Curiouser and Curiouser

I-1 The Jury

Create twelve unique characters to fill a jury box. These characters will be witnessing your trial of being accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. So, choose wisely. (<1000 words).

Juror #1 Foreman: Larry Newton, 67. Retired banker. Larry is a widower and spends most of his time gardening. His children check up on him constantly (enough that he gets a bit testy about it) ever since his third heart attack. He is in very poor health and carts oxygen around with him, but despite his physical issues he's as sharp as he ever was. He dislikes theft in all its iterations but is willing to accept that a person may be falsely accused.

Juror #2: Valerie Dulac, 56. Caterer. Never married, two children by her long term male friend who she refuses to marry because then she'd have to settle. Has definite opinions about the Queen and her tarts, which are not as good as Valerie's and so there was no real reason for them to be stolen. Very sure of herself. Doesn't listen to people, but that's alright because she isn't inclined to change her mind either.

Juror #3: Nancy Olson, 37. Unemployed mother of seven and grandmother of three—she was a teen mom and so was her oldest two. On welfare. Nancy hopes that the jury lasts a while because if it does, she'll take home a check that might help with that thing that her kids have been asking for. She doesn't think this is the type of crime that people should really be punished for, not in the actual, official court system.

Juror #4: David Edwards, 26. High school dropout, mechanic. David is recently married with twins on the way, and is the primary money maker in his little family, especially since his wife is on bed rest and staying at her mother's during the day. He is distracted throughout the trial, but he has empathy for people who are falsely accused of stealing food because of an incident involving a gas station food-mart and an overzealous clerk.

Juror #5: Patrick O'Sullivan, 43. Computer programmer. Gamer. Never been married. No, he doesn't live in his parent's basement, but his online life means that he doesn't have the time to meet people offline. Self-made millionaire, which he spent on his security and his computer system which takes up an enormous room in his own basement. Isn't quite sure what to make of this jury situation, but all the lawyers in the room annoy him, viscerally.

Juror #6: Bianca Whitley, 25. Recently graduated with a degree in art history, Bianca is experiencing her first jury duty. She will miss a job interview at a prestigious museum if the trial extends into weeks, so she is a tad anxious to come to a solution quickly. She doesn't like the look of the prosecuting attorney's aura, but that is likely to be of questionable utility to me, as she tends to push against trusting aura reading in her decision making.

Juror #7: Julie Kingston, 44. Unmarried librarian. Julie is a bit sick of it all because she's been on three different juries in the past five years—a federal, a county, and now a city. Unfortunately, the different jury selection systems don't talk to each other. Fortunately, she has an overdeveloped sense of fairness and is likely to be sympathetic to someone being railroaded by the queen.

Juror #8: Terry Aarons, 49. Method actor. On his seventh marriage—three children. Terry is grateful for this opportunity to be on a jury because he was recently cast in a production of Twelve Angry Men. Unfortunately, he has a difficult time coming up with his own lines—but he can memorize like anything. This means he's likely to not be useful when it comes to coming up to a verdict, but he'll be swayed by the majority.

Juror #9: Regina Conner, 29. Ophthalmologist. Has been busy since school with paying off loans and working long hours. Never been married. Takes copious notes about everything the lawyers say, mostly because she wants to be scrupulously fair, although when she was a student, she had a run in with the Queen and her tarts, so that she is inclined to believe in my innocence.

Juror #10: Freyda Thurston, 62. Recently retired from a career as an educator. Freyda's current life focus is grandchildren and knitting in that order. Her seventeenth grandchild (a girl) is due at the end of the month and she wants to finish a baby blanket before then. This may be difficult because of the knitting restrictions involved in a jury (all those sharp objects) so she is also impatient to get things over with.

Juror #11: Howie Sturgess, 34. Recently divorced real estate agent. He has the kind of smile one sees in a politician or a used car salesman. A terrible flirt, he has rated every woman in the courtroom (including the judge) on a personal system and decided that the woman he'd most want to bang would be my defense attorney. This could actually work in my favor, unless he actually tries to flirt with her because she'll slap him down. Hard.

Juror #12: Walter Black, 53. Married postal worker—father of four and grandfather of one Works long hours in all weathers and is tense. Very tense. He doesn't know what to do with himself without something to do all the time. Sitting in the courtroom is difficult for him, but that's okay. He has the ability to sleep with his eyes open, which he got from listening to his wife. Likes sneaking tarts, but never gets away with it because his wife blames him.

word count: 915