Serving Jury Duty: Every American's Responsibility
So today is my first day back to normal after serving Jury Duty. I am emotionally drained, tired, and left with more questions than answers. Let's tell this story from the beginning:
I got my Jury Summons in the mail during April/May when everything was closed and I remember thinking to myself, If I can't go to the mall...how is court in session? But then the day came for me to call in and I actually almost forgot to call in. Someone reminded me and I was told to report on Monday. That Friday I actually posted online and asked, "What can I do or not do? How does this work?" and the general feedback was, "Just bring a computer or a book and wait for them to send you home". I was like cool ok, I can do that. Come Monday I bring way too many books and not enough snacks. I check in and a judge comes in to thank everyone for actually showing up. They called one group that I was not in, but I was in the second group. They had us fill out a paper, which I should of realized was a clue to the subject matter of the case. A mass of jurors went to the next meeting location and they assigned us numbers, all the seats had been marked and numbered, per COVID-19 of course. I was one of the first 12 seats to be seated.
The judge then explained that we were to be addressed as numbers, to keep our names out of the records, and when our number was called, we were to answer the questions on the board: Age, Marital Status, Occupation, Know any cops, Been on a Jury, Been convicted of a crime. After the 12 jurors all go through the questions, unable to be heard because we are all wearing masks, the Prosecution and Defense start asking questions and talking to jurors. You could tell right away the jurors that were not going to get picked, "I don't work well with others because I am better than them. I have a bias. If the prosecution proves 3 out of the 4 elements, I would just give them the 4th one"...that came from a crazy young person. Something that surprised me is the answers people gave: No jobs, no school, no husbands...or the other extreme where people and their entire family had experience with the subject matter - Sexual Assault. Living in my bubble, I did not think that sexual assault was that common? We get released at 5 o'clock and told to come back the next day. When I get home, I tell my family that I might be picked and their response was, "Of course you would, you would choose to not play dumb to get out of it".
The next day I am back at the juror selection room, and the lawyers have to do the same song and dance multiple times. Each time they go through jurors, most of them leave and some stay. The ones that have stayed, from the beginning like me, have heard the song a couple of times now. By the 3rd, 4th, and 5th time of hearing it-I realized the lawyers give away their strategy in the questions they ask jurors. To be fair, all documentation and evidence has to be submitted before court begins so I guess there's no real room for mystery, but that surprised me. Jurors already basically picked got to leave for a longer than normal lunch. When we get back, they finally pick 12 jurors and a couple of alternates. We then go to see the room the trial will take place in. Due to COVID, we are all spaced out-not sitting in the 12 seats to the left of the judge. I in fact sat in the audience area the entire time. They release us for the day and trial starts the next week. I spend the next couple of days doing what I can, since it basically looks like my next week is spoken for.
Next Monday comes and the trial begins. I left the house saying, today can't be that bad, its not like we are going to hear from the victims first. Oops. I was wrong, We heard from both victims. Up until this point, I did not realize it was multiple victims. The accused was their uncle. As a woman, trying my best to be objective, it was hard to hear what the girls said happen to them. Basically, the uncle was alleged to have molest them for a period of 10 years for one and 5 years for the other. I know that even though I had not heard everyone else speak yet, I already had an idea forming in my mind of what my decision was as a juror.
Tuesday comes and we are back in court. The prosecution brings in a psychologist, the victims brother, the teacher that reported it, and the investigator. We are told not to talk about it with anyone else...no other juror, family, friends. As the days go on, we as jurors talk more and more and it slowly starts to get talked about in a general way. Wednesday comes and back in court, this is the heaviest day of testimony-its time for the defense. We see the defendants daughter, son, wife, nephew, and an aunt. On Thursday back in court, the investigator comes back and so does the victims step mom. Before leaving we are read juror instructions and some information on the counts. I do not envy either side of this case-do you defend the man who molested or the girls who are supposedly making it up?
We did not have enough time for closing statements and deliberation, and court does not happen on Fridays so we were to come back the following Monday. Over the weekend, I decided I was going to go in with my mind decided on my position. For me, I removed any part of the story that could not be corroborated and looked at the story left over. I also had to ask myself, what do the girls get out of lying? In a He Said She Said, they can't both be telling the truth. I actually don't think either side told a whole truth. I think the truth was weaved in there, with the victims adding details and the defendant's family trying to cover any hole possible, which only looks more suspicious. I went in Monday morning with this thought: I think something happened, but not everything. Did enough happen to convict though?
Monday morning we are back and hearing closing statements. The prosecution and defense both did a very good job with their statements and we went into a nearby room, another judges courthouse, to deliberate since the juror room is not COVID friendly. The security guard started by spreading us out, but as soon as he was gone we all went into an oval like shape. We elected one juror to basically be the leader, since he had served on another jury before. We deliberate for short time before we have to break for lunch. After lunch we get back to it. We all basically agree something happened, and found it easier to believe the younger victim more than the older victim. We took a anonymous vote to see where everyone was at and it was: 11 to 1 for victim 1, 12 for victim 2. I have to be honest with you, I had an idea who the 1 was, and I would not have been all that nice if we were that close and had to come back tomorrow. We listened to the interview again of victim 1 again and took another vote.
We unanimously agreed guilty on count 1, count 2, and the special allegation. We all reconvene in the court room and the verdict is handed to a court employee and read out. Each juror then had to answer the following question, "Is this your verdict?" and each one said yes. We were then all excused and the investigator for the prosecution let us know that if we were open to staying for a few minutes, we could talk to the prosecution lawyer. A majority of the group stayed and talked to him, something I had no idea happened. The full reality of our decision hit me when I asked about sentencing and the lawyer said," It does not matter because of the charges." "What is the sentence?" "Based on the special allegation, it's life". We just kind of looked at each other, we just sent a man to prison for life.
There are a couple of things I found really interesting about the process of being a Juror. So many people in my family would of avoided it instead of rolling with the punches. If the majority of people around me avoid it, that means it is up to people not afraid to take 3 weeks of their life to help girls get justice like me to make justice happen. The process is nothing like the movies make you think it is. I had no idea that COVID was not only holding up the economy but justice too. For a criminal case, I do not know that the decision of that mans life should of been in our hands. As much as I tried to be impartial and what not, that was so hard to do. The law is also crazy, the prosecution cited one part of the law, "If we believe the testimony, then it can be used to convict", while the defense cited another part of the law, "If the people do not prove all elements of the case, you have to find the defendant innocent". The same law can be used so many different ways, how do the lawyers even do it?
If you get a Jury Summons, I would ask that you don't ignore it, (or throw it away as I have also heard other people do), but go and see what happens. It seems like most of the time you are not picked, but if you are-do your best. Even though I am 1 of 12 that sent a man to prison for life, I could not sit there and say he did not do it-and that is what they call an abiding conviction. One juror called it, "I sleep well at night and don't regret my decision". I can safely say, I slept well last night and hope for the family involved in the case that this closure starts healing for both sides- victims and non-victims.
P:(657) 246-2298-Email Me - Moxi Zombi Marketing - Blog-Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Flickr - LinkedIn
I got my Jury Summons in the mail during April/May when everything was closed and I remember thinking to myself, If I can't go to the mall...how is court in session? But then the day came for me to call in and I actually almost forgot to call in. Someone reminded me and I was told to report on Monday. That Friday I actually posted online and asked, "What can I do or not do? How does this work?" and the general feedback was, "Just bring a computer or a book and wait for them to send you home". I was like cool ok, I can do that. Come Monday I bring way too many books and not enough snacks. I check in and a judge comes in to thank everyone for actually showing up. They called one group that I was not in, but I was in the second group. They had us fill out a paper, which I should of realized was a clue to the subject matter of the case. A mass of jurors went to the next meeting location and they assigned us numbers, all the seats had been marked and numbered, per COVID-19 of course. I was one of the first 12 seats to be seated.
The judge then explained that we were to be addressed as numbers, to keep our names out of the records, and when our number was called, we were to answer the questions on the board: Age, Marital Status, Occupation, Know any cops, Been on a Jury, Been convicted of a crime. After the 12 jurors all go through the questions, unable to be heard because we are all wearing masks, the Prosecution and Defense start asking questions and talking to jurors. You could tell right away the jurors that were not going to get picked, "I don't work well with others because I am better than them. I have a bias. If the prosecution proves 3 out of the 4 elements, I would just give them the 4th one"...that came from a crazy young person. Something that surprised me is the answers people gave: No jobs, no school, no husbands...or the other extreme where people and their entire family had experience with the subject matter - Sexual Assault. Living in my bubble, I did not think that sexual assault was that common? We get released at 5 o'clock and told to come back the next day. When I get home, I tell my family that I might be picked and their response was, "Of course you would, you would choose to not play dumb to get out of it".
The next day I am back at the juror selection room, and the lawyers have to do the same song and dance multiple times. Each time they go through jurors, most of them leave and some stay. The ones that have stayed, from the beginning like me, have heard the song a couple of times now. By the 3rd, 4th, and 5th time of hearing it-I realized the lawyers give away their strategy in the questions they ask jurors. To be fair, all documentation and evidence has to be submitted before court begins so I guess there's no real room for mystery, but that surprised me. Jurors already basically picked got to leave for a longer than normal lunch. When we get back, they finally pick 12 jurors and a couple of alternates. We then go to see the room the trial will take place in. Due to COVID, we are all spaced out-not sitting in the 12 seats to the left of the judge. I in fact sat in the audience area the entire time. They release us for the day and trial starts the next week. I spend the next couple of days doing what I can, since it basically looks like my next week is spoken for.
Next Monday comes and the trial begins. I left the house saying, today can't be that bad, its not like we are going to hear from the victims first. Oops. I was wrong, We heard from both victims. Up until this point, I did not realize it was multiple victims. The accused was their uncle. As a woman, trying my best to be objective, it was hard to hear what the girls said happen to them. Basically, the uncle was alleged to have molest them for a period of 10 years for one and 5 years for the other. I know that even though I had not heard everyone else speak yet, I already had an idea forming in my mind of what my decision was as a juror.
Tuesday comes and we are back in court. The prosecution brings in a psychologist, the victims brother, the teacher that reported it, and the investigator. We are told not to talk about it with anyone else...no other juror, family, friends. As the days go on, we as jurors talk more and more and it slowly starts to get talked about in a general way. Wednesday comes and back in court, this is the heaviest day of testimony-its time for the defense. We see the defendants daughter, son, wife, nephew, and an aunt. On Thursday back in court, the investigator comes back and so does the victims step mom. Before leaving we are read juror instructions and some information on the counts. I do not envy either side of this case-do you defend the man who molested or the girls who are supposedly making it up?
We did not have enough time for closing statements and deliberation, and court does not happen on Fridays so we were to come back the following Monday. Over the weekend, I decided I was going to go in with my mind decided on my position. For me, I removed any part of the story that could not be corroborated and looked at the story left over. I also had to ask myself, what do the girls get out of lying? In a He Said She Said, they can't both be telling the truth. I actually don't think either side told a whole truth. I think the truth was weaved in there, with the victims adding details and the defendant's family trying to cover any hole possible, which only looks more suspicious. I went in Monday morning with this thought: I think something happened, but not everything. Did enough happen to convict though?
Monday morning we are back and hearing closing statements. The prosecution and defense both did a very good job with their statements and we went into a nearby room, another judges courthouse, to deliberate since the juror room is not COVID friendly. The security guard started by spreading us out, but as soon as he was gone we all went into an oval like shape. We elected one juror to basically be the leader, since he had served on another jury before. We deliberate for short time before we have to break for lunch. After lunch we get back to it. We all basically agree something happened, and found it easier to believe the younger victim more than the older victim. We took a anonymous vote to see where everyone was at and it was: 11 to 1 for victim 1, 12 for victim 2. I have to be honest with you, I had an idea who the 1 was, and I would not have been all that nice if we were that close and had to come back tomorrow. We listened to the interview again of victim 1 again and took another vote.
We unanimously agreed guilty on count 1, count 2, and the special allegation. We all reconvene in the court room and the verdict is handed to a court employee and read out. Each juror then had to answer the following question, "Is this your verdict?" and each one said yes. We were then all excused and the investigator for the prosecution let us know that if we were open to staying for a few minutes, we could talk to the prosecution lawyer. A majority of the group stayed and talked to him, something I had no idea happened. The full reality of our decision hit me when I asked about sentencing and the lawyer said," It does not matter because of the charges." "What is the sentence?" "Based on the special allegation, it's life". We just kind of looked at each other, we just sent a man to prison for life.
There are a couple of things I found really interesting about the process of being a Juror. So many people in my family would of avoided it instead of rolling with the punches. If the majority of people around me avoid it, that means it is up to people not afraid to take 3 weeks of their life to help girls get justice like me to make justice happen. The process is nothing like the movies make you think it is. I had no idea that COVID was not only holding up the economy but justice too. For a criminal case, I do not know that the decision of that mans life should of been in our hands. As much as I tried to be impartial and what not, that was so hard to do. The law is also crazy, the prosecution cited one part of the law, "If we believe the testimony, then it can be used to convict", while the defense cited another part of the law, "If the people do not prove all elements of the case, you have to find the defendant innocent". The same law can be used so many different ways, how do the lawyers even do it?
If you get a Jury Summons, I would ask that you don't ignore it, (or throw it away as I have also heard other people do), but go and see what happens. It seems like most of the time you are not picked, but if you are-do your best. Even though I am 1 of 12 that sent a man to prison for life, I could not sit there and say he did not do it-and that is what they call an abiding conviction. One juror called it, "I sleep well at night and don't regret my decision". I can safely say, I slept well last night and hope for the family involved in the case that this closure starts healing for both sides- victims and non-victims.
P:(657) 246-2298-Email Me - Moxi Zombi Marketing - Blog-Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Flickr - LinkedIn
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