Lock 'em Up

I have been summoned for jury duty. Again.

I served about 4 1/2 years ago in a court near Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, which was my first time serving. Lucky me, I was actually placed on a jury (and not simply sent home with a thank you), so my tenure lasted an extra day.

Actually, I didn't mind the process. I found it interesting, actually. The judge and court staff could not have been nicer to us, thanking us for our service at every juncture.

What I thought was a slam-dunk, dude's guilty somehow became a "not guilty" conviction that we returned. A kid was allegedly dealing drugs in a school zone, and when the cops caught up with him in a known "shooting gallery" (I'm told that's where IV drug users shoot up), he had no drugs on his body. Circumstantial evidence was not enough to convict, unfortunately (and I say unfortunately, because he was obviously doing something illegal, but due to the police work, it could not be proven).

I was the one holdout in the jury room, but eventually realized the facts were the facts, and while my fellow jurors shared my belief that he was dealing, it could not be proven without a reasonable doubt.

It's probably awful to think this way, but I'm viewing this opportunity as a second chance for me to be involved with putting away a drug dealing scumbag. I would imagine they would disqualify me from serving if they knew that.

This time, I am postponing this next tour of duty for a few weeks because they summoned me to appear the week right after my trip to Italy, and that's just going to be tough to leave work for a week, then come back and have my return week punctuated by jury duty.