The Citadel of Justice, Day 3

Voir dire finally ended around noon yesterday, as did any hopes of my evading selection to the jury for this particular case. Whatever lottery determines the order by which jury panelists are initially seated pretty well determines your fate. As Jury Panelist #19, I felt smugly out of selection range - until people started answering questions and revealing experiences and attitudes. Smug assurance gave way to bitter resignation, and Jury Panelist #19 soon became Juror #11.

As the judge - a Platonic ideal of a jurist with a genial demeanor and a resonant baritone - made his last remarks to those panelists not selected, I gazed out at them, a sea of smiling faces. “God damn you all,” I thought.

The trial continues today.