I received the notice instructing me to appear at the Courthouse for Jury Duty and of course I went. About 80 people were in the Jury Assembly room and we were told they would begin a process of elimination to narrow the group down to 12 jurors and 2 alternates.
Some folks were excused because of medical conditions, religious convictions, and a bushel full of other reasons. I asked the person in charge if she was familiar with my “celebrity” status as Rev. Bubba D. Liverance and mentioned she might want to excuse me as well. She asked if I was familiar with the term “contempt of court”?
Of course I was selected as one of the 12 jurors. The Judge, during his instructions, informed us this was a “murder” trial. I started thinking about OJ and how long that trial lasted. We have concerts and shows lined up and I started wondering if the promoters and club owners would think I was lying if we had to call and cancel.
Then we were told about our juror pay. Here in Alabama we would receive the whopping compensation of $10 per day and 5 Cents for each mile we had to drive to the court-house. For me it was a 5 mile trip which would shoot that paycheck up by a quarter each way. After the compensation explanation, we were told the State was nearly broke and the State would appreciate any of us that would waive our pay. In an effort to help the State, I waived goodbye to my juror pay.
This was a very serious case, so I’m not going into any detail, however I will tell you about the deliberations. At first it was “lovey dovey” and very congenial. Each juror shared their name, occupation, and little about their background. Then things started heating up. I had to break up two fights and almost got my ass kicked by a 69-year-old fat lady that sounded like the devil voices in ”The Exorcist”. She scared the hell out of me! This was all in the first hour of deliberations and was going downhill from there.
After a couple of days we did come up with what I believe was the correct verdict of “Not Guilty”. Folks, I’ve travelled around the world, lived a “rock ‘n roll” lifestyle, and had more fun than a man should be allowed. I’d still have to rate my jury duty as one of the most interesting and exciting episodes in my life. I can highly recommend it! Rev. Bubba