After a tiny bit of research, it seems that being an alternate juror is the lowest appointment one can have. Not only are you selected and forced to sit for the duration of your trial and are expected to pay attention to the entire case, but you don’t get to sit in on the deliberations, and your voice isn’t heard on the case at hand.
So I still have to sit for the remainder of the case on Monday, and possibly for some more instructions from the judge, but those instructions will probably include for me to go home.
I think I would still be interested in how it all turns out, and I wonder if I would be allowed to wait for a verdict, if the other “real” jurors are able to render one on Monday. Of course, if there is more left to the case than what I expect, then this could even last until Tuesday, and if it’s just the deliberations that are left, then I’ll already be back at work and won’t be able to attend court to hear the verdict.
Suck. At least I will have learned how being on a jury really works, up until the actual important part, anyway.
