Musings

Bueller, Bueller

By Shelley Banks

I can still remember the scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where the teacher repeatedly calls out the main character’s last name. I was waiting to hear my last name called – Banks, Banks.

I wasn’t on a movie set. I was sitting in a room at the Supreme and District courts with 300 other people waiting to see if I got picked for jury duty.

I’d done jury duty before, so I was familiar with the process. What I didn’t know was if I’d be picked, and, if so, how time-consuming it would be.

It didn’t take long for things to move along—barely fifteen minutes had passed since the process began when my name was called. I joined a group of forty others, all of us following the bailiff as we were led through the building and into a courtroom. Once there, I took my seat, waiting to see if I’d make the final cut. With only twelve jurors needed out of our group of forty, I figured there was a good chance I’d be heading back to my seat, unchosen.

Contrary to my expectations, things didn’t go as I thought. My name was the seventh drawn from the barrel, prompting me to walk to the front of the courtroom. Even then, there was still the possibility that either the prosecution or the defence might object to me, meaning I would have been sent back to my seat. This had already happened to three people before me during the selection process. However, that wasn’t the case for me. Before I realised it, I found myself confirmed as juror number four, sitting on the panel and facing the judge and the judge’s associate—who, amusingly, bore a striking resemblance to a young John Cleese.

As I waited for the remaining jurors to be picked, I remembered a conversation with a friend who said they’d never been called for jury duty and how they were keen to do it. I would have happily swapped if I could. The first time I was a juror, it was for a murder case, so after that, once would have been enough.

But no, I was chosen again, proving that a jury summons is like lightning: it really can strike twice.

Books

If you like my short stories I’ve published eleven books.