Editorial |
Bart Pickett
My Experience as a Federal Grand Juror I will never forget checking my mailbox one evening and seeing a letter from the Middle District of Tennessee Federal Court. I had been chosen for grand jury duty. While I always thought serving on a jury would be a worthwhile experience, even as a lawyer, I did not know much about grand juries. The subpoena came with a questionnaire addressing the bare minimums for eligibility to serve, and a number to request a deferment, which I reluctantly ignored. Per the recorded jury line, I had to appear at the federal courthouse at 8:00am. I arrived and lined up to check in with the jury coordinator. The large room was filled with people of all demographics from across Middle Tennessee. Around 8:15am, the coordinator commanded the podium to give her grand jury spiel. She said that if we were chosen, the term would be one day, every other week for a year. I burst out laughing before realizing it wasn’t a joke. She even tried to convince us that at the end of the year, most people want to keep doing it. They were picking two panels that day. Each panel had 23 members and 12 alternates. With only 103 of us that morning, selection seemed imminent. After a short video explaining what a grand jury does, we were escorted to a courtroom down the hall.
With all of us seated, the judge took the bench, thanking us for our willingness to serve, and addressed the importance of the grand jury. He began questioning the jury pool with questions regarding whether we had ever been arrested, been a victim of a crime, been investigated by or testified in front of a grand jury, and if we knew any lawyers. As you can imagine, the questioning took quite a while. Sitting on the back row, I became the last to answer the question about knowing any lawyers. I told the judge I was a practicing Tennessee attorney and that most of my friends were lawyers. Having no criminal law experience, however, I advised the judge and Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) that I could be fair. The judge then had anyone who had concerns about service line up. Without any real reason to be excused, I sat back and just hoped to be selected as an alternate, if at all. Alternates only serve if they are permanently replacing a grand juror, which seemed unlikely at least for the majority of the 12 alternates. After hearing all potential excuses, the judge announced each of the panels. As he read off the 23 names of the first panel, I sat breathless on the back row with my fingers crossed. (continued on page 14)
DEC/JAN 2020-21 | NASHVILLE BAR JOURNAL
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