Joining Jury Pool Is a Grand Experience

About 30 people waited, some holding their breath, Wednesday for their names to be called to serve on the Orange County Grand Jury.

Some have tried for years to make the cut. Others are first-time applicants. But all were hoping to get to serve.

The finalists gathered in the Santa Ana courthouse for a suspenseful 15 minutes. They were about to find out who would constitute the 19-member jury and who would be among the 10 alternates.

Alan Slater, the court’s chief executive officer and jury commissioner, picked names from a small wooden box.

A slight gasp followed the first name that was announced. “That was my mom,” Glen Stroud, 60, said.

Stroud had applied to be a juror the last two years and suffered through the entire process before he was selected both times to be the fifth alternate. “It gets down to 17, 18, then you’re not called. You tend to resolve yourself that you’re going to be an alternate,” he said.

This year, however, his name was selected first. His relief was palpable. “It’s a wonderful way to give back to the community,” the Santa Ana resident said.

Presiding Judge David T. McEachen said the jurors should expect to work on a gamut of topics. Even the most innocuous subjects, such as deciding what to do with the byproducts of treated sewage, can captivate jurors, McEachen said. “It [brings out] the investigative reporter in everybody.”

The grand jury receives complaints and concerns about many topics and chooses to investigate those it finds the most worthwhile, officials said. At the end of the investigations, the grand jury submits a report with suggestions for the concerned parties to consider. No one has to listen to what the grand jury decides, officials said.

Jurors earn $50 a day and spend each weekday discussing top-secret information for the 12 months they serve.

The only real drawback to the yearlong commitment, McEachen says, is that “you really can’t talk about anything you do. Don’t talk to your friends, don’t talk to your family.”

Ben Benson, 72, is currently on the jury. He would say only that “it’s great. It’s a great education and a great opportunity to serve.”

McEachen and those involved with jury recruitment tried to attract minority applicants with the excitement of being on the jury.

“We want the face of Orange County,” he said. “We want the jury to look like what Orange County looks like.”

Wednesday’s jury selection netted what officials thought were five minorities: three Latinos, one black, one Asian. Alas, one man identified himself as “other” instead of checking off the “white” box as his Polish American heritage would suggest.

The jurors and first three alternates will begin boot camp, as the judge called it, June 9. They will be charged with their duties July 1.