An Old Story

 I hope you enjoy today's post.  I had a heck of a time posting it.  Apparently, Windows Live Writer has decided that Google has an expired security certificate and is refusing to connect.  I had similar notices yesterday with Google News and Google Search, but Firefox allowed me to connect anyway.  This morning, my Gmail account is blocked with no "connect anyway" option.  I can still access my blog page, but can't post to it from Windows.

I mentioned last month - Precinct Roulette – that I had received a jury summons. 

I am now of an age that I am no longer required to go, but I do have to notify the court by mail if I opt out.  There ought to be an easier way of doing that, but there is not. 

I have served on both criminal and civil juries in the past, and while I wouldn’t call it entertaining, it was always enlightening. I still haven’t decided if I’m going this time, but I need to make up my mind soon.

This morning, I came across this story from the Hampton Roads, Virginia Daily Press:

A juror who served on a recent Newport News murder trial technically didn't have to because of his age.

The man was one of 12 jurors who served last week in the case of 20-year-old Kwame Drayton.

After nearly four hours of deliberations on Wednesday, the jury found Drayton guilty of first-degree murder and related charges in the March 2011 death of Terrance Williamson. The jury then recommended that Drayton serve 48 years in prison.

As the jurors were exiting the courtroom, Newport News Circuit Judge Timothy Fisher asked one juror to stay behind.

"You do know you didn't have to serve?" Fisher asked him.

The juror gave him a puzzled look.

"You could have opted out because of your age," Fisher said.

"Really, now you tell me?" the juror replied.

"I wasn't going to tell everyone you were that old," Fisher told him, with a chuckle.

The juror and the courtroom erupted in laughter. It was a light moment at the end of an often tense three-day trial. In Virginia, if you are 70 years old or older, you may ask to be excused from jury duty.