The verdict has ben rendered

mstang67chic

Going Green
We finally got to go to deliberations today in the trial I was on the jury for. After 2 1/2 days of testimony and deliberations, I'm still a little confused on exactly why this case went to trial. Out of 5 felony counts of burglary, we convicted on 4. The one we voted not guilty on, we were 99.9% sure the guy either did it or was involved (there was another guy involved that had already plead guilty and was serving his sentence) but there just wasn't the evidence to prove it. We really only seriously discussed two of the counts (one of which was the one we acquitted on) and most of that was determining the legal definitions for the charges.

I felt bad for the guy's sister. She was in court through most of the trial and was there when the verdict was read. She didn't get mad or yell but she was crying the entire time. You could tell she really loved her brother and was scared for him but the guy dug his own hole. I did feel kind of like a coward though because I made sure I was out of the courthouse before she came out so I wouldn't have to see her cry anymore.

The other guy involved testified for the prosecution and all during his testimony as well as the testimony of the guy on trial, I remember sitting there thinking "difficult child alert". It was so obvious they were both lying through their teeth. The guy that testified for the prosecution seemed to think the entire thing was funny. His testimony though, wasn't because of a plea agreement. Apparently he did have some sort of agreement but it did not involved testifying. That he did all on his own. Still not sure why but he did. The guy on trial blamed everything on everyone else, claimed he had no idea that the SIX (possibly 8) storage units they broke into belonged to anyone other than his dirt poor friend and declared that every single witness (most of whom were cops) were lying.

I feel comfortable with my decision but I still find myself feeling a bit guilty. And I can't get the sister's poor face out of my head.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
I understand your sentiments. Jury duty saps your emotional strength in a unique way. I have served on three. The first was frustrating to the max because the prosecution did a lousey job of pulling the information together. We found the Defendant not guilty (even though we believed he was guilty) because it was not properly proven.

The compassion for family members on both side makes it hard to shake
off and return to your normal life. on the other hand, I trust the "jury system" a heck of alot more than I trust "the system". There is a raw honesty in combining six or twelve American citizens from divergent backgrounds to decide the fate of a fellow citizen. Powerful stuff. DDD
 

Marcie Mac

Just Plain Ole Tired
I always show up for jury duty but am never called - once they find out what I do for a living I get to go home.

And its probably just as well to be honest - I have done I don't know how many depositions, and have been called as a witness and have gotten really jaded dealing with the rehersals and well placed questions to keep with the black and white and no shades of grey thing and inuindo's of my being in some big conspircy to not have a claim paid. Last one I did I think it was 5, maybe more depositions. one for each attorney that took his case and then went nah something is wrong here. He finally found one said lets go for it. Did he know the guy had three arsons losses on business's he owned, 8 separate auto accidents he was suing on, 4 work comp claims he was suing on, and numerous disabiltiy claims -yeah- but worth the pro bono cause an insurance company was involved, and of course, the jury was not allowed to know about any of these claims, only the one going to court now for a burglary of everything in his new clothing store that was due to open on Xmas Eve. In 4 years I had never laid eyes on this guy, and day of trial wasn't going to get that opportunity either. His attorney was pretty brutal and hostile towards me, and our attorney was always calm, and when he referred to the claimant, he gestured towards an empty chair. Jury could not told he was in jail on fraud charges on something totally unrelated. Judge finally had enough and told the attorney the suit was dismissed, he didn't even have a suit, and worse, didn't even have a client there - attorney was realllly angry

Although I realize that our current system is the fairest as it could possibly be world wide, I don't know if I could be fair and partial with my experiences on the other side of the rail.

Marcie
 
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