on the jury

[lizziebelle]

I had jury duty this week, and for the first time ever, I was picked to serve on a jury. I'd always thought it would be interesting to do so, and it was, but I wouldn't want to do it again. It's very difficult to hold someone's fate in your hands, and difficult for six people to come to a unanimous conclusion.

The whole situation was a sad one, and the people involved are both homeless. There were a lot of inconsistencies in the testimony. The charge was a serious one. What it came down to was the believability of the testimony; neither one was particularly credible.

When we went in to deliberate, we found ourselves unable to agree on a verdict. Five of us were not convinced of the guilt of the accused, based on the testimony. We had one holdout, a young gal who I feel didn't want to disbelieve the accuser, which is understandable, but not what we were charged with deciding. They kicked us out of there at the end of the day yesterday, and told us to come back today. Really not what I wanted to hear.

We talked and deliberated for about three hours today, with a couple of questions to the judge to clarify points, and finally she found a point when she had doubt, and somewhat reluctantly agreed that we couldn't find the accused guilty. So finally it was over.

Here's the thing: I'm pretty sure something happened between these folks. There's something going on with the defendant, the accuser, and her girlfriend. But that's not what we were charged with deciding. We had to decide on the specific charges, based on the testimony that was presented to us in court. And based on that testimony, we just couldn't find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The whole process is interesting, from the choosing of the jury to the formal workings of the court. The bailiff was a fun guy; he reminded me a bit of Morgan Freeman in that he would be deadly serious, then crack a joke in that same straight face. It took a couple seconds to figure out he was joking. Also, if you serve on a jury through lunch hour, they buy you lunch.

By the time I got out of there today, it was too late to make it worth going into work, so I stopped at Mount Auburn Cemetery to walk around and decompress. There wasn't much growing yet, but it was peaceful and it was a nice day. I saw a few things that I hadn't seen before, and I finally found Bernard Malamud's grave.

I also found a couple of fake foxes by the lakes, presumably to scare away something. Birds? Coyotes?

I found this carving on a stone that said, "Uncle Carl, Irrepressible Spirit." It took me a minute to figure out what it was. Can you figure it out?

Back to real life tomorrow. Honestly, it will be a relief.

Comments

[leenah.livejournal.com]

it sounds stressful, but it was necessary, and i'm glad it's over for you.

i find law fascinating. it's precise, but squishy due to the emotions involved.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Fascinating but squishy. I like that.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

I give up. Who is Uncle Carl?

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

It's a pair of trapeze artists!

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

So hard and stressful, and so important. Thank you for doing the job and taking it seriously.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Very hard and very stressful, and yes, very important.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

That must have been an interesting experience.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

It was interesting. Hard, but interesting. Very different from what you see on TV!

[writerjenn.livejournal.com]

I felt similarly about jury duty--it was difficult to sympathize with someone but not be able to find for them, given the case in front of you.
At first I thought I wouldn't want to do it again, but now (years later) I think I would.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

It's definitely an exercise in critical thinking.