Juror #6, reporting for duty
A status update.
Greetings, readers! I hope everyone enjoyed Ojai Day as much as I did. I want to recognize Craig Walker for helping revive the Ojai Day tradition back in 1991 and River Sauvageau for beginning (and maintaining!) the annual mandala. These community members — and countless others — have created something really special. They remind us of the impact one person can have on the whole community.
Anyway, I know I’ve been absent from your inboxes, and wanted to offer a status update.
On Monday morning, I gathered with a random cross-section of Ventura County voters. This was not an event attended willingly: we were all prospective jurors for the Ventura County Superior Court (and, I imagine, all hoping to be swiftly dismissed). Together, our diversity was striking — old and young, retired and not, Black, white, and brown. Some of us wore business suits. Others wore pajama pants. And none of that matters!
It’s a novel experience, because where else do we have the opportunity to gather with a random group of community members without the barriers of personal demographics? It’s something I’m still thinking about.
I’ve reported on trials and court hearings before, but I’ve never been part of a jury. So, when myself and some 50 others were directed to a courtroom for jury selection I was, honestly, a little excited. We prospective jurors took our seats and the judge began to hold court. While taking attendance, she made clear that she knows jury service is a burden. She also explained that service is our collective duty. I was slightly appalled when she asked potential jurors if they could use sick time or PTO to complete jury service, or if they had savings they could use due to loss of work hours. Suffice it to say that she was not letting folks off the hook easily.
Next, she moved a smaller group of us to “the box” — the area that separates the jury from the rest of the courtroom. Again, I felt a twinge of excitement mixed with anxiety. It was like being in school again: feeling simultaneously afraid to be called on and excited to deliver the answer. All of us potential jurors answered a series of questions from the judge — questions about our families, our work, and our experiences with the legal system. All of this was tremendously personal. I would have liked to question the relevancy of — for example — my marital status to the court, but I suppressed the urge to question the court’s questions. The process was surprisingly intimate, and moving at times. I am also quite certain that this experience is a complete nightmare for jurors with social anxiety.
And then… we got cross-examined! Well, it felt something like a cross-examination when the attorneys for the prosecution and the defense asked follow-up questions of us potential jurors. Both sides were seeking evidence of potential bias. One attorney repeated a question I found curious: “Can you put that bias aside?” It was another moment in which I suppressed the urge to question the questions. Doesn’t science show us that subconscious bias is a fact of the human brain?1
The questioning of the jurors continued, until suddenly, our mini-society of twelve became acceptable to both sides. Immediately, we were sworn in and the case began. I’m not allowed to say anything about the case beyond this: I expect that my full-time job will be as a juror for the next week. Myself and my fellow jurors will receive a salary of $15 per day.
This is my long-winded way of explaining that the next installment in my Ojai City Council series is slightly delayed. Coming soon will be profiles of Mayor Betsy Stix and Councilman Andrew Whitman. I’ve also embarked on a comprehensive story about ongoing housing projects in Ojai — both “affordable” and not.
I look forward to the day when I can write about my experience during this case. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few bits of local news:
The City of Ventura’s closure of downtown Main Street to car traffic is set to end in June of 2023. According to the VC Star, “If the City Council does nothing, it could mean the area would reopen to traffic.”
Ojai officially received more than 44 inches of rain during the 2022-23 rain season. According to the Ojai Valley News, “The just-ended rain year saw the fifth-highest yearly rainfall total for Ojai, from records dating back to 1906.” Readers who are interested in looking at historical rain data should check out (and bookmark!) this page from Ventura County Public Works.
If you enjoy these reports, please recommend This Little Valley to a friend. In fact, you can earn a free subscription by referring this publication to others!
That’s all for now — I’ll talk to you next week. 💛