Jury Duty Summons

Last month I had received a summons from the US District Court to appear for jury duty in Burlington later this month for what, if selected to serve, would have been a four week long court trial.

It would have been a rough commute utilizing public transit bus service back and forth between Montpelier and Burlington as well as a rather long day for just the first -- of what would have been jury selection -- day, forget for seventeen (17) days during the entire length of the trial held over the four weeks as had been scheduled (there were three days during the month of October when the trial was not scheduled to be held).

Although I was hoping to either be excused or not be selected, if selected to serve, I would have attempted to do my best.

Had not known what the trial was about and, wanting to remain fair and impartial in case I had been among the jurors selected to serve on the jury during the Voir Dire process, did not want to know (until and unless informed on the first day of the trial).

Video: Voir Dire in Action (mock jury selection; length: 1.15.13 hour/minutes/seconds):

Voir Dire definition (via Google search):

The phrase "Voir Dire" literally means, "to speak the truth." In court, it refers to a process of determining whether a juror can serve fairly and impartially in a given case by asking the juror various questions.

Fortunately, I was informed last week both my email as well as snail mail that the summons and the court case had since been canceled.

Although, if the trial had proceeded and I were among those jurors selected to serve, I would have done my civic duty to the best of my ability; truth be told, it was nonetheless a relief not to have to do so.

P.S.

If it were a shorter trial held up in Burlington or if it was a trial held in District Court in Barre or Superior Court in Montpelier, it would likely be a different matter and more doable on my end.