Yachats Oregon Writer Rick Schultze

When the envelope from the county arrived I figured it was the property tax notice but I was wrong. It was the letter summoning me to Jury Duty.

I’d been summoned once before but at that time I’d just had a hip replacement operation and they gave me a deferment. Well, time had passed so this was the summons that I had to respond to, which I did, and I received a set of instructions including a phone number to call and a Juror number which was 123. So at the beginning of the month I began the daily process of calling in to see if I’d been scheduled to report and after a week of not being called, I was, and reported bright and early on a rainy and windy Wednesday morning.

Now it got interesting, I was one in a pool of about 100 potential Jurors.

As I stood in the hallway of the courthouse I recognized several of my fellow Yachats residents and before the official check in began we all had a chance to chat and tell our stories about being called. It was better than running in to each other at the Post Office; a new setting and a lot of potential drama!

Finally the Jury coordinator appeared and from behind a table covered with forms informed us to come forward, find our name and number, pick up a pamphlet on Jury rules, and a Jury badge. After each potential Juror had signed in the process of selection began with the coordinator calling out one series of numbers and sending them to one court room and sending the balance to another adjoining court room.

I headed to the first court room being in the first group and after the rest of the group arrived the second step of the choosing process began with another drawing of numbers and once again my number was called so I took a seat in the Jury box and the balance of the group filled the courtroom benches.

Then the fun began. The Judge on the bench addressed the gathering and told us the trial we’d been called for was a criminal trial and gave us a brief outline of what it was going to be about. Then the Judge asked for anyone who felt uncomfortable about the issues, knew the defendant or potential witnesses, or had connections with the law enforcement agencies to speak up. After a lengthy process of people speaking up several potential Jurors were excused and the elimination process began again. Finally 24 of us adjourned to the Jury room and several minutes later we were called back into the chambers and 13 of us were called by name. I was one of the 13 and within minutes I was sworn in and began my adventure of being a Juror on a criminal trial; the state of Oregon versus an individual. We broke for lunch and after the introduction of the State’s attorney and the defense attorney and instructions from the judge, the action began. I’d answered the call to duty and next week I’ll tell you all about it.

To reach Rick Schultze email yarick@pioneer.net