So my time on the jury is over. I have to say, it turned out to be really interesting. And it made me feel good about our judicial system. At times I would think, "wow, we're arguing over the same little detail over and over for three days . . . seriously!?!?!?!" But then, if I had been arrested for something, I sure as heck would want my day in court! I may be rambling a bit here on this thread, but I feel a need to digest all the information I took in, especially since I wasn't part of deliberations.

I was dismissed from the jury right before closing arguments. I was randomly drawn to be excused (they have one extra juror in case of an emergency). That was a big let-down. After sitting through all of that and being bound to silence, I really wanted a chance to discuss the case with the other jurors and let my thoughts be known.

BTW: One of the jurors is the wife of the Police Chief in our city. Knowing a police officer did not give anyone an automatic pass. And this was a criminal case.

Even though the case we listened to was Resisting and Obstructing, I could tell right away that this was a "high-profile" case. For one thing, the defendant's lawyer was really, really, good. I felt like I was watching the "Lincoln Lawyer" at work.

Secondly, they didn't have just two officers that were arresting him on a warrant. But 2 detectives, 2 state police troopers, AND some federal agents!

I happened to be sitting on the end closest to the witness box. I was very close to the witnesses. One of the witnesses claimed to not know the defendant or his business. This was really odd to me as the witness had a very large tattoo on his forearm with imagery that very closely identified with the name of the business . . .

Then, when the defendant got up to testify, I noticed he had the exact same tattoo in the very same location (same size, coloring, everything). I kept wondering if the other jurors had noticed that too!

After they excused me from the jury, I was free to google and talk about anything I wanted to. I did some googling, and sure 'nuff, the defendant was responsible for a drive-by shooting. The lawyer also had quite a reputation--as I suspected.

As I said, it was really interesting. I'm glad I got to be on a jury afterall. And if I ever see that tattoo again, I'll be sure to run in the other direction!