I survived three days of jury duty- the whole experience was
very interesting and I learned a lot. The
case was against a man who was found with a baggie of drugs in his pocket during
a traffic stop. When clearing out his
vehicle after it got impounded, police found glass pipes, a scale, and other
evidence of drug abuse in the truck. The
problem was all across the board, the police work was pretty shoddy. Some minor things were mis-reported on the
police files, one of the officers was fired later for shoddy work although not
necessarily on this case, no pictures were taken or description given of the
distinctive patterned baggie the substance was in, and most problematically,
the meth in the baggie was weighed at 1.4grams at the station, but only weighed
.6 grams when weighed by the chemist
testing the drug. There was “reasonable
doubt” about whether the bag tested was the same one seized so although the
decision was hotly contested, in the end we declared the man not guilty.
In no particular
order here are a few things I learned.
1.
The right
to a speedy trial does not extend to jurors.
We waited...a lot.
2.
You learn
who your friends are when you ask for people who are willing to watch your kids
for an entire day on last-minute notice.
Thanks everyone for helping out.
3.
Being a working mom is exhausting. How do people do it? After three days I feel like my house has
fallen apart and it will probably take me all weekend to feel caught up.
4.
If you
want to be excused from jury duty on a meth possession case have a great story
about how your cop wife got attacked by a meth head on a traffic stop, killed
the assailant, and had to move out of state due to harassment from his gang.
5.
Real
trials are not like tv but sometimes are. I tried valiantly to suppress smiles
when defense made a motion to dismiss almost every piece of evidence submitted
by the prosecutor. Motions denied.
6.
Justice can be served without justice being
done. The justice process was followed
perfectly by our jury but although we knew "most likely" that this
man was guilty, the police work was so shoddy that there was enough
"reasonable doubt" that we couldn't convict him.
7.
People are like squirrels. It was so hard to keep the jury focused on
the pertinent issues of the case. There
was one count of possession of drug paraphernalia that got dropped during trial
since it quickly became obvious to the prosecutor and the jury that there was
no way to make it stick, but members of the jury kept going back to that even
though it was off the table by the time we deliberated. I wanted to pull my hair out.
8.
The judge read 14 pages of standard preliminary
instructions and 16 pages of instructions for the jury prior to deliberations. The court stenographer had to type them word
for word. I wonder if she will ever
forget them since she has undoubtedly typed them hundreds of times. I feel her pain- I too in the course of doing my job have to repeat the same things hundreds of times. It's not fun.
9.
If you are a lawyer do not re-read three pages
of the instructions the judge just read to us.
We are not stupid, and we will not like you.
10.
Crime doesn’t pay. This man was found not guilty, but he will
pay for his drug abuse. A good lawyer
and poor police work may have helped him evade legal consequences, but the hard
life he has lived showed all over his face.
There are some consequences that no one can avoid.
I am proud to be an American where every citizen has the
right to a fair trial. Serving as a
juror made me realize how seriously we take justice in this country no matter
who is on trial. Very neat experience but not one I am in a hurry to repeat anytime soon.
