JURY DUTY

Yes. It was my turn this week. I've been called up several times over the years, but never actually served on a jury. This time was different.

The county court is 45 miles away in Kemmerer. My car is in the shop. It was snowing, of course. There were six people called up from Cokeville. So I figured I could catch a ride, and I did. They were looking for a six people jury and I was number 13 (yeah, I know...I should have known). After all the questioning and the attorneys using their challenges, etc., I was the last of the six to be picked, and the only one from Cokeville. A quick scramble resulted in one very generous soul leaving their vehicle for me to drive home later (THANK YOU REBEKAH) and I began an educational day as a member of a jury in a criminal case.

The details of the court are not particularly important and the entire court session was completed by evening that day (we stayed through the dinner hour to finish deliberations so we wouldn't need to come back the next day). But I learned a lot...about Wyoming law, about jury responsibility, about court protocol, about "presumed innocence" and "reasonable doubt", about the limitations of our court system and also it's wonderful possibilities. I gained an appreciation for the tireless service given by police officers, judges, clerks and public defenders. I learned a bit about patience and attention to detail. I made some new friends of those others on the jury. I found a new place for lunch (The Busy Bee) and enjoyed the wares of the local bakery (great snickerdoodles).

Many people took care of business here at home to make my day in court possible. Bill gave me a ride to Kemmerer. BranDee not only cleaned rooms at the motel, but delivered my mail and took care of coordinating our wolf den setting up for the Pinewood Derby. Sarah took my place visiting teaching and then manned the office until that evening and she also directed the derby! Marlene manned the office after Sarah, until Mariah made it home and took over. Rebekah Roberts, bless her heart, donated her vehicle so I could get home.

All in all, it was an exhausting day I will long remember. If you get called to jury duty, just smile and go. We really are blessed to live in this great land and we all need to do our part to make our judicial system work.

Just a side note: I made it home before the derby was over. It was a fun time and our track survived again to be used another day. I'm getting pretty efficient at setting it up and taking it down, too.