California has a one day one trial policy, so you only have to sit in the waiting room one day if you are not selected to sit on a jury. I was an alternate juror for a murder trial about 7 years ago, the defendant was an 18 year old boy who had stomped a and stabbed a 9 year old boy to death while on meth. We weren't actually deciding whether or not he was guilty, but rather determining his degree of guilt. The defense attorney was pushing us to find him guilty of involuntary manslaughter but nobody was buying it. He was found guilty of 1st degree murder which is what I would have voted for if I had been called in to replace one of the jurors.