Well I'm finally getting around to tell you about jury duty, as the trial ended this week. This was my first time being called up and the first time I was selected to be on a jury. I'm sure we've all gotten the "oh no, jury duty" reaction when you see the summons in the mail. To be honest, because work is really screwed up right now, I really didn't mind. There is A LOT of waiting involved as a juror, regardless of whether you've been selected on a jury or still waiting around in the jury pool. There were 175 of us showing up on the first day of jury duty. I was selected in the last group of jurors for the day. The voir dire process when the attorneys select jurors was pretty interesting. Voir dire means "to speak the truth" and they ask you various questions to determine if anyone is biased or is unable to be fair about certain issues. It was at this time that we found out this trial was for a criminal case for domestic violence. People I thought would be selected for the jury were dismissed (I guess those who talk too much and give their opinions all the time aren't always ones you think would get selected) and at the end of the day I found myself being one of the jurors selected. And so began the beginning of the next 6 days as a juror on this case.
It was an interesting case, but some parts were very difficult to listen to, especially when viewing photos of the victim, hearing the testimony by the doctor who treated the victim and learning the extent of her injuries and listening to the victim's own testimony. It was probably very difficult for her to take the stand and have to face her former boyfriend, the father of the child they have together, a year after the incident occurred. She was threatened by the defendant many times not to show up at court or "she'd be sorry" (she was apparently an illegal immigrant and he threatened to call immigration if she did not do as she was instructed). I was surprised that both the victim of this case as well as the defendant took the stand. In the end, the defendant was found guilty of all 10 counts against him, the biggie being assault in the 2nd degree. After the trial ended, we had a chance to talk to the prosecuting attorney. It was at this time that we found out this was actually the defendant's fourth (!!!) domestic violence victim. Pretty sick. His sentencing is scheduled in a couple of weeks. I hope this guy will be off the streets, for a long time.
This experience has definitely changed how I feel about jury duty. It's not that I have tried to get out of it, but we all live busy lives and we think "I don't have time for this" or are perhaps bitter about having to take time out of our lives to do this. But you know, I'm proud to have done my civic duty. I know some people cannot serve because of financial or other legitimate reasons, but since my job pays for my jury duty time, I really couldn't make an excuse not to. You definitely look at the whole experience differently, at least I did.
4 comments:
Wow I don't think I'll look at jury dutie the same again. Thank you.
Thank you for this. And thank you for taking time out to get that guy off the streets.
My dad served about 10 years ago on a criminal case of a boy that shot a friend just b/c he wanted to know what it felt like "to shoot a white boy". He never told my brother or me about the trial until about 2 years later I dated the boy that got shot. He told me all about the trial and how hard it was to listen to the defendant talk about why he shot Brian and how he had gotten the gun and everything. The kid was 15 and was tried as an adult and got 25 years...
You should be proud. It's another duty, but also a privilege. Good for you.
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