Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – Leigh Anne Vaughn

January 30, 2007

I am happy to announce another new writer for Storytime Tapestry. Leigh Anne Vaughn  becomes writer # 402. Please email her and welcome her to the fold

Jury Duty

Leigh Anne Vaughn

I was called for jury duty once way back when I was about 20 years old. At the time you had to be on call for 2 weeks. Now it's been cut down to only one week. You sit in a room filled with people just sitting and waiting. Some days they will tell you to go ahead and go home and come back in 2 or 3 hours, that was a pain. Every night you had to call to find out to see if you had to report the next day and it took about 10 times of calling to get through, as the line was always busy. Anyway, I was finally called to be a possible juror. They call people up and question them. They might ask if you are friends or related to any anyone in law enforcement and then other questions that may relate to the case. They also ask if you feel you can hold back your judgement until you hear both sides of the case. Then they will dismiss some people and call up some more and question them until they are satisfied. I was on a trial that had to do with a man who was driving drunk and ran his car into another man's house. Surprisingly, to me we were told the man's license had been taken away due to drunk driving and he was a repeat offender. We were instructed that if there was anything the offender or a witness said that we didn't believe to be true, we could consider the rest of his or her testimony untrue. The guy who ran into the house claimed he wasn't driving, someone else was and had left the scene. However, he did not know the person's last name or where he lived or worked. It was quite obvious he was lying and he had an attitude like he didn't care that much if he went to jail or not. The other witnesses were very credible. It was an easy decision for all of us jurors, except one lady. After we talked a little bit, she agreed with us. So, that case lasted only a day and a half. Then I was off that case, but still on call for the rest of the two weeks. It was interesting to be on the case, but after that being on call again was a pain. I was called for another case and dismissed and finally I was done. I'm glad I served once, but I think once is enough.

Leigh Anne Vaughn

lalav1@softcom.net