Well it is July, which is my second favorite month of the year. (I know, you’re dying to know … June. June is my favorite.) July is my second favorite mainly because it is hot, and there is no school, and I love red, white and blue.
This year, Chief Justice Paul Newby of the North Carolina Supreme Court has proclaimed that July is Juror Appreciation Month. Hey, another reason to celebrate July — I’m in.
Any person who is charged with a crime has the right to a trial by jury pursuant to the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 24, of the North Carolina Constitution. As such, jurors are a necessary part of our justice system. Juror Appreciation Month gives us an opportunity to recognize the importance of jury service, to thank the many members of the public who have served on juries and to educate citizens about jury service.
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During the pandemic, jury trials had been suspended across the state, including here in Iredell and Alexander counties. Because of the overriding concern for the safety of our citizens, state and local court officials decided against bringing pools of jurors into our courthouses for jury selection and for jury trials.
As soon as we determined that trials could safely resume, we began summoning jurors and proceeding with jury trials. We have had to make changes in the way we have conducted these proceedings, but we have carried on. And as the Chief Justice has said, jury service is now more important than ever. We need members of our communities to show up when they are summoned and to perform their duties as citizens of the state of North Carolina. We need them to ensure that justice is administered fairly and promptly.
As the instructions that a judge reads to a jury state, “This call upon your time does not come frequently and may never be repeated in your lifetime. It is one of the obligations of citizenship. It represents your contribution to our democratic way of life. It is an assurance of your guarantee that if chance or design brings you to a court of law in any civil or criminal entanglement, your rights and liberties will be regarded by the same standards of justice and protected by the same considerations that you discharge here in your duties as juror.” (North Carolina Pattern Jury Instructions, 100.22, Introductory Remarks.)
But perhaps the unsung heroes of the Court System during the pandemic were the Grand Jurors. “A grand jury is a body consisting of not less than 12 nor more than 18 persons, impaneled by a superior court and constituting a part of such court.” (North Carolina General Statutes 15A-621.) Basically, in generally more serious matters, the Grand Jury determines whether there is probable cause to believe that a certain defendant committed a certain crime. Grand Jurors meet usually for part of the day, roughly once a month, for one year.
So even though jury trials were suspended from March of 2020 until April of 2021, there was still business for the Grand Jury. In other words, during that time, crimes were still committed, and defendants were still charged. And the Grand Jurors still met regularly throughout it all. We moved their meeting locations so that they could be socially distanced, and they carried on just like before COVID. To those Grand Jurors in both Alexander and Iredell counties, thank you. We could not have functioned without you.
The past nearly year and a half has been a difficult time for all of us, including those of us in the Court System. And if it has been hard for us, I imagine that it has been even harder for those of you in the community that have been summoned for jury duty. All I can say is thank you. And I imagine that the citizens of Iredell and Alexander counties who have found themselves in a “civil or criminal entanglement” thank you as well. You have performed “one of the highest duties that can be imposed on any citizen.” (North Carolina Pattern Jury Instructions, 100.22, Introductory Remarks.)