A show of hands

It seems I have been presented with the opportunity to fulfill one of the 'wishes' on my Rocket List.

The Rocket List is my version of the not-as-cooly-named Bucket List : things to do before one expires.

On my very quickly trumped-up list, I had mentioned that I'd like to see what it would be like to go a day without one of the five senses, and I had tacked speech onto the sense of taste because it was in the neighborhood.

So - here I am with a bout of laryngitis which has followed on the heels of a nasty cold that came down on me the day after Thanksgiving. I literally couldn't speak if I wanted to - and when I try, I sound like a sea lion. I have spent this day (apart from emitting the occasional bark) in complete silence.Tomorrow, I am supposed to resume my grand jury duty.

I was randomly selected as the deputy secretary of the panel by the court officer. The next day, the secretary (who volunteered for the post) didn't show up, and the day after that, seeing what was involved, she asked me to continue sitting in. Later, with a wave of her hand said to me 'You can have it'. 

Since then, my note-taking skills have seen some serious action. There are twenty-three of us on the panel. As acting secretary, I receive the dockets from the Assistant District Attorney and log in several pertinent bits of information: the name(s) of the accused and the names of any witnesses due to testify; the docket number, the names of the ADA and the court stenographer, the list of charges and the disposition of the case based on the Grand Jury vote.

@ Joyce Kilmer Park, near the Supreme Court

Everyone is required to take their own notes, but I seemed to be the only one able to get down the entire penal code definitions word for word as given by the ADA when charging us with the vote. They recite the code the way a seasoned Catholic recites the 'Hail Mary'. If you don't already know it - good luck picking it up from what you hear. I suggested that each ADA supply a typewritten copy of the Penal Code definitions based on the charges they plan to bring.  Of course I only suggested this to the other grand jurors, after which they took to calling me the Secretary General.

When we get charged with the vote, the ADA and the Steno leave the room and everyone looks at me like I'm Moses with the tablets. So I read back the code:

"Penal Code 265.03 sub (1) sub (b): criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree when

1) with intent to use the same unlawfully against another, such person

 b) possesses a loaded firearm"

People get a sense of where their gut is based on the evidence heard, and we take the vote whether to indict or dismiss.

Tomorrow will be interesting. I plan to continue my duties, but will hand off the reading of the charges to the original secretary. I can then focus more on reading back my own case notes and participating in the show of hands.