Almost a Juror

...of one of the most talked-about cases on the SF Peninsula, at least back in early 2006. On January 7, 2006, East Palo Alto cop Richard May was fatally shot while responding to a restaurant brawl. Within days, Alberto Alvarez was charged with murder. Almost 4 years later, my guy gets called in for Jury Duty on the rainiest and windiest day so far this season, and faced the possibility of serving an estimated 2 1/2 months on this case. A potential capital punishment case.

He described how, to his surprise, he and his 74 fellow juror candidates were ushered into a courtroom upon arrival and introduced to the defense and prosecution teams, including the accused himself; how the defendant seemed rather harmless sitting in his chair, cleancut and neatly dressed; but then how the same man, when dismissed, swaggered out of the room with a distinctive gangsta gait that promised a trial drama straight from the pages of a John Grisham novel or Law & Order episode.

When the bailiff announced the judge's verdict to grant my guy an exemption, based on various "hardship" claims, there was a flood of mixed emotions: relief that he wouldn't have to commit a couple of months to $15/day deliberations and possible sequestration from society; but also slight disappointment to have missed the opportunity for a role in a rather intriguing case....