More Jury Duty
I just called in and sure enough, I have jury duty again tomorrow. I don’t mind doing it, but what I do mind is that other jurors seem to feel like the trials we’re sitting on are not their concern. Last week I sat on a jury for an armed robbery, and to my mind the defendant was guilty - obviously and profoundly guilty. But the feeling I got from the other jurors is that they didn’t think the matter was really their problem. It happened in a crappy neighborhood, and they didn’t see why they should accept the burden of having to put someone in prison.
It is a burden. If you vote to imprison someone, that’s your burden to carry. You might have been wrong - you’ll never know for sure, and the procedural nature of the courts is such that you’re not getting all the information that the prosecutor, defense attorney and judge have. So you have to live with the knowledge that someone is in a cage because of your decision, for the defense of society.
The man whose trial I sat on was accused of armed robbery, and he was arrested several days following the robbery after having been spotted on the street by the victim, who called the police. The police found the victim’s property - reported stolen and documented in a prior photograph with the victim - in the possession of the defendant. The defendant fled police twice prior to capture and also had cocaine on his person. He had two prior felony convictions and was 23 years old.
So tomorrow I’ll go downtown and probably sit on another jury. If I think the defendant is innocent or if I doubt his guilt in any substantial way, of course I’ll vote to acquit. But if I think he’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, lacking videotape evidence of the defendant committing the crime I’m afraid I’ll wind up having to play the role of “asshole who won’t let us go home” for a second time.
Filed under: Ejecta
So what happened, Sterling? Was it “12 Angry Men” all over again but in reverse, where you slowly persuaded your fellow jurors of the man’s guilt?
No. After about 90 minutes I said, “Look, I’m not going to keep you here all afternoon if you want to acquit. But let me go through it one more time, and if I haven’t changed any minds then I’ll acquit with you.” And the other guy who voted guilty, but didn’t really seem to have the confidence to make his argument, nodded and agreed that he’d do the same.
So I ran through it one more time. Two people seemed to bend but wouldn’t break, so I threw in the towel. There was one woman in particular who would not turn, no matter what - she was clearly Richmond aristocracy and was not going to give in to some pushy yankee. (That would be me.)
interesting, i would have thought the Richmond aristocracy chick would have wanted to see the dirtbag hang, or fry or whatever they do down there. could the hatred of yankees be that strong?
don’t answer–i know, i know.