I served on a jury for a month-long trial even though I had personal and business acquaintances with some of the witnesses and others involved in the trial.  Of course these acquaintances were all disclosed during the questioning phase of jury selection.  Apparently all sides were comfortable from the answers I gave to their screening questions that I would be objective and leave personal and business biases out of my judgment.

Much of the trial was very boring.  The judge dozed frequently during long, dry, detailed testimony.  There were numerous potential distractions in the courtroom, and it was often challenging to stay focused completely on the proceedings.  I knew that in my hands and the hands of the other jurors rested the responsibility to weigh the facts correctly and reach a correct verdict.  I did my best to remain open minded and attentive throughout the course of the trial.  I felt I owed the litigants the same attention as I would want if my fate were in their hands.

When the jury was sent out to deliberate at the end of the trial, the jurors were all in agreement on over 20 counts of the verdict.  The foreman of the jury kept us in deliberations for a few hours so that we would have an opportunity to test our judgment before he completed the verdict form and turned it in.  Some of us attempted to poke holes in our judgment, but our judgment held strong, adding certainty.

At stake in the case were millions of dollars.  I will always be able to rest easy, knowing that I was a member of a jury that returned a correct verdict after first challenging its own collective judgment to be completely certain.