Potential jury duty

Today I was part of a jury pool that had to attend local court to pick a jury for a civil trial.  I wasn't keen on having to serve on a jury - once again.  In the 1990s I served on a jury, and one other time I almost served on a jury.  That was 10 years ago, almost to the day.  And in the same courtroom, courtroom #3.

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2011/11/almost-jury-duty.html 

I believe we are paid mileage at 56 cents mile each day.  Like back in 2011, when we are called for jury selection we earn a whole $12 - a day.  If we serve on a jury our pay increases to $25 a day.  Woo hoo.    That's not even minimum wage.  Jurors should be paid at least minimum wage for doing more than minimum wage work.

We had to show up at 9 am.  Unlike in 2011, where the process of picking a jury lasted all day (I didn't get excused back then until 4:30 to 5 pm), today I, and others, were released around 11:30 am. And unlike last time, this time I wasn't in the pool of people called up to be questioned by the lawyers.   The courtroom was packed with the jury pool and 25 people were called up to be questioned by the lawyers.  A few people were dismissed from that group of people but I wasn't called up to replace them.  I was concerned as everyone else from my seating row was called up to the front, plus the people who had ridden up in the elevator with me.  I kept thinking, "I'm next to be called."

One woman who was dismissed I believe had sat next to me in the row before she was called up to the front.  She was dismissed because her son got COVID last Monday and her daughter got COVID last Friday.  Her husband had to take off work to care for the children, while she was here at jury selection.  It makes sense she was dismissed as this was a hardship for her family.

What annoyed me was we were packed together in the courtroom, with people not 6 feet apart due to COVID.  And her family has COVID and she sat right next to me, almost bumping elbows.  So if I get COVID it is the court's fault for packing us close together.  The court does not require people to wear a mask. Nor did the court - or can they in Montana - ask people if they have COVID.   Let's pack people together and not ask them if they have, or been exposed to, COVID.  No wonder so many people are coming down with COVID in Montana.   Way to go Montana!

The civil trial is among two business partners in the restaurant business.  Or are they still partners?

I can understand why the lawyers question if you know the parties suing each other, or their witnesses, but one lawyer spent a lot to time asking potential jurors if they knew about the "Where's Waldo" game, and how the game worked and how they felt about it.  I have no idea why he was concerned with Where's Waldo.

It turns out most all of the potential jurors knew about finding out where Waldo is located.

If they had called me up for questioning to be on the jury pool, I'm sure I would have been dismissed.  Donna knew the main restaurateur, and her sister worked for him many years ago. They like him.  And Donna and her sister like eating at the restaurant. So do I.  So I would have found it hard to make a judgement against him.  And I knew one of his witnesses as he works with me as an election judge and has worked with me for over 10 years.

I and the others were dismissed before the lawyers set out to whittle the pool of 25 people down to a jury of 12 people plus 2 alternates. 

I'm happy I'm not on a jury.  I don't want to sit right next to people with COVID for up to 5 days.