👨⚖️ The jury has been chosen…
Today was the swearing in of the jury at crown court, and after the group was whittled down even further by those who had submitted requests to be excused, 21 of us made our way to the courtroom.
Fourteen would be chosen, 12 jurors and two who have to attend the case in case they are needed to step up.
The court official starts to read the names out and it’s a bit like X Factor, but in reverse, as you hope your name isn’t called.
With just five men, I was thinking we’ll all be picked but that wasn’t the case, with just two making up the fourteen.
On a personal level, I was more than happy to miss selection.
If I was chosen I’d have got on with it and given it my full attention but I wasn’t so it worked out well.
The seven were all asked if we’d like to join a second panel for another long trial (3 weeks predicted).
As we had the choice, although the others all said ‘yes’, I replied ‘no’.
I’m still on call, so to speak, for ten working days and there could be a three-day trial in that period, but that’s nothing compared to four months.
Work-wise, it’s just this week and next that’s affected but after then it should be back to normal.