I was hoping I would get on a "good" case, but never associated that with a Murder case! I feel a huge sense of responsibility to pay attention and get this right! So many people are impacted by the decision we as a jury make. The victims family wants justice, the defendant wants us to believe it was self-defence and his family does not want to see him go to prison. All the officers, detectives, forensic investigators and other law enforcement personnel want to see justice served. The prosecuting attorney wants us to see things his way and of course the defense attorney wants to convince us there was no crime at all. There seem to be a lot of people depending on us to do what is "right".
The funny thing is I can see that whats right actually has very little to do with it. I doesn't even come down to if he did it or not, he has already admitted he shot and killed the guy, it comes down to if the prosecutor can prove a point beyond a shadow of a doubt. His point being it was cold-blooded murder. The defense does not even have to prove it was self-defense. The burden is on the prosecutor to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was pre-meditated, cold-blooded murder. If he doesn't do that, regardless of it being true of not, we have to find the defendant not guilty. That was an eye opening realization to come to as we were being read our instructions and told how things work by the judge. Sitting in court I can't help but wonder what is going through the defendants mind as he listens to all these other people talk about him, his intentions, his life, the facts as they see them. Some of these people are his friends, some are not. I just wonder what he is thinking. Most of all I wonder what he thinks when he, as a young black man, looks at the jury of his "peers", because we are by and large not his peers. There is one black man on the jury the rest of us are white, and most of us have good jobs, live in good areas, and have never been in trouble with the law. It's not that we are better than him, we just don't live the same sort of life that he does. Hearing about his life and the week long incident of fights and threats against the defendant and his family made me realize that I in no way can relate to what his life is like. I don't know what it's like to live in the "hood" and to have to "fight" for your life every day. I don't know what it's like to have someone tell me they know where my Mom lives and they are going to kill her. And, more importantly I don't know how I would respond if those things were part of my life. Would I do the same thing? I own a gun, so that would indicate that yes I would defend myself and those I love. But, I know pulling the trigger and killing another living being is something that would be difficult beyond belief. Ultimately my emotions and feelings are irrelevant. It comes down to the charges and if the prosecutor can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that murder was committed. Cold. Hard. Facts. That's it. No emotion, no sympathizing, just the facts. I keep telling myself that over and over and hope that when it comes time to deliberate it is crystal clear what our decision should be.
1 comment:
Jen,
Great thought provoking post!! That is one of those things that you are suppose to be is impartial however you do wonder how many people that have served on jury duty is REALLY impartial. I loved serving on the jury when I did it and encourage everyone to do it because it does give you a different view of the whole trial process (for those of us, like you who do not frequent the system). Also your thought process is about what I would think as well. The "jury of your peers" is sometimes a joke because your right, unless you have lived through some of the situations it may be difficult to share with the other jury members while deliberating. I look forward to more posts!!
Tiffany
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