Case Closed

All my visions of courtroom drama, "Night Court," "The Practice," "Twelve Angry Men" and such were dashed today when the eight of us jurors were taken to a jurors room and then to a court to sit in the jurors box only to be told that the civil case being tried (really a very basic case of injury in a subway station) had already been settled without us. We were thanked very generously by the female judge for our time and told that this would not have been possible if we had not shown up. I think most of us were just glad to be getting out so soon. I was looking forward to a little court drama once we were in those seats but I had no complaints about leaving early. On our way down the staircase I asked the defense lawyer how the case for the defendant was settled. Apparently his client was only modestly compensated due to being unable to solidly prove the guilt of the plaintiff (MTA).

As we emerged from 80 Centre Street and descended the steps he handed us his card. "You never know when you're gonna need a lawyer." he said.

We got in at 11:00am and were out by 11:45. I could have gone to work but why on earth would I have done that?