Friday cat in a bag! Next Friday for me! Let's hang 'em together! 
Jury Duty
- Thread starter misery chastain loves co.
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Friday cat in a bag! Next Friday for me! Let's hang 'em together!
I'm in!! I just hope I don't forget to call the number. I need to set an alarm to remind me!
I sent my letter thingy back in, but haven't heard anything from them. On one hand, I think I'd like to do it (I've never even been called, and my husband has 3 or 4 times), but there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done already!
Let us know what happens! You, cat, and I can start a support group!
I spent Tues-Friday of last week serving on a jury.
It was a domestic violence case. Girl was 19, man was 22. She was pregnant with his child. It was truly awful.
They were breaking up and he showed up at her apartment style dorm to get his stuff, and things got ugly fast. He kicked down a locked bedroom door, threw her phone in the toilet so she could not call for help, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her down 18 steps face first, pushed her back into the stairs when she tried to get up and then forcefully pressed a towel against her bleeding nose and mouth to get her to quit screaming. Some basketball girls who lived in the suite next to hers heard her screaming and ultimately rescued her.
The pictures of her injuries were terrible to have to look at. The state of her suite after he trashed it. Blood on walls, the stairs. The evidence was overwhelming against him.
There were 4 charges, aggravated assault on a pregnant woman. We said guilty. Then we had to say whether he did it intentionally, knowingly or recklessly. We said yes to all 3.
Criminal entry, guilty. She let him in the dorm, but then locked herself in her bedroom. He kicked the door in.
Destruction of property, guilty. He trashed the place. The kicked in door, there was a hole in the wall, her things were thrown everywhere, and the ruined phone.
Strangulation, guilty. This charge came from him pulling that towel tight against her nose and mouth. Again we had to also decide if he had done it intentionally, knowingly or recklessly. That one we said recklessly and recklessly attempted. But not intentionally. We did not believe his intent was to necessarily impede her breathing, but that he wanted her to stop screaming.
I am confident we arrived at the correct verdict. But it is a heavy thing, knowing he will most likely do some time because of what we decided. But, he did those things. There was plenty of evidence proving it.
It was interesting, and I don't mean that in a flip way. I learned some things I didn't know about how these kinds of things work, and some things I wish I didn't know. I am definitely glad it is over. It was an extremely intense experience.
That was enough for me, though. I did fill out the paper asking to be excused from jury duty for one year.
It was a domestic violence case. Girl was 19, man was 22. She was pregnant with his child. It was truly awful.
They were breaking up and he showed up at her apartment style dorm to get his stuff, and things got ugly fast. He kicked down a locked bedroom door, threw her phone in the toilet so she could not call for help, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her down 18 steps face first, pushed her back into the stairs when she tried to get up and then forcefully pressed a towel against her bleeding nose and mouth to get her to quit screaming. Some basketball girls who lived in the suite next to hers heard her screaming and ultimately rescued her.
The pictures of her injuries were terrible to have to look at. The state of her suite after he trashed it. Blood on walls, the stairs. The evidence was overwhelming against him.
There were 4 charges, aggravated assault on a pregnant woman. We said guilty. Then we had to say whether he did it intentionally, knowingly or recklessly. We said yes to all 3.
Criminal entry, guilty. She let him in the dorm, but then locked herself in her bedroom. He kicked the door in.
Destruction of property, guilty. He trashed the place. The kicked in door, there was a hole in the wall, her things were thrown everywhere, and the ruined phone.
Strangulation, guilty. This charge came from him pulling that towel tight against her nose and mouth. Again we had to also decide if he had done it intentionally, knowingly or recklessly. That one we said recklessly and recklessly attempted. But not intentionally. We did not believe his intent was to necessarily impede her breathing, but that he wanted her to stop screaming.
I am confident we arrived at the correct verdict. But it is a heavy thing, knowing he will most likely do some time because of what we decided. But, he did those things. There was plenty of evidence proving it.
It was interesting, and I don't mean that in a flip way. I learned some things I didn't know about how these kinds of things work, and some things I wish I didn't know. I am definitely glad it is over. It was an extremely intense experience.
That was enough for me, though. I did fill out the paper asking to be excused from jury duty for one year.
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
Sorry cat in a bag - he got what he deserved
I typed an operative procedure recently where the woman was severely injured in a domestic abuse situation. She had fractured bones in her face and ultimately needed plastic surgery.
I think asking to be excused from Jury duty for one year was the right thing to do.
Holy shyt, CAT!! That must have been frightening. Sounds like you and the rest of the jury did the right thing! Having to see the pictures though....wow. I'd sign papers to be exempt for the next ten years if that was possible. You're a brave person, CAT. And you can feel good for being a good citizen and going through with it.
I cannot remember the last time my heart pounded the way it was, standing in the jury box, waiting for the Judge to read the verdict. And then we had to individually say if that was our true verdict. Out loud.
It was the county who proceeded with the charges, not the girl. But I hope that she feels a little less scared now. She is still dealing with physical injuries (it happened in January) and the scared feeling will follow her for a while, I imagine, if it ever truly leaves her. But I do hope she feels a little bit better now.
My voice would have been like...............Guilty.
Was it a 12 person jury? Did you have to deliberate at all over the charges or were all in agreement from the get go?
Sorry for the questions you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.....
I hope the victim can find some closure now too.
Thank you for your jury service.
It's a special role that we play in society. I know that people despise it, avoid it, but it's one of the things that sets us apart as a democratic society. The state can't just round up people and prosecute them unimpeded within a closed system. Nope, an accused person has the right, and it's an important one, to bring in citizens to ride herd on the state and say whether the governmental actions are valid.
In your case, it sounds pretty obvious. But even so, when the process is started, are we going to leave it up to the state to decide which is obvious and which needs litigation? No, it's the right of citizens to make the state prove the case. And even in your case, had it been left completely up to the state, there would have been one extra level of conviction that you didn't allow, and good for you to follow your conscience.
Yes, it can be nerve-wracking for the jurors. But there's also a special moment in a courtroom when a jury comes back, the verdict hasn't been read, and no one but the jury knows what the result is going to be. As convincing as each side feels they may have been, they just never know for sure. It's a dramatic time in the courtroom. The still air is thick with suspense and tension.
Thank you again for contributing that part of your life to such a fundamental role in a cornerstone of our society.
Yep, 12 people. Actually, 13, with the alternate. Who was randomly chosen after closing arguments. One of the things I learned that I didn't know, the alternate listens to all the testimony, then before deliberations is sent home. Not excused, but they do not deliberate, and they are not present for the reading of the verdict. They get a phone call, after, informing them of the verdict and officially releasing them from service.
There were 7 women, 6 men. The alternate ended up being a woman, so we deliberated evenly matched, 6 women, 6 men.
We got the case at noon, and had the verdict on all charges done at 3:30, but we were not called back into the cortroom until 4. We all were pretty much in agreement from the get-go. There was just too much evidence against him. He changed his story 3 times, she never wavered. She was emotional but she did a very good job testifying. We heard from the policeman, 2 of the basketball girls, the victim, 2 crime lab people and the college maintenance director. The defendant also testified and that was a train wreck. He should not have. It would not have made a difference in the verdict, but all he really did was make all of the inconsistencies in his story more obvious. And he was disrespectful to the prosecutor. A woman. I think she pushed for that, wanted him to show his temper. But, truly, he was disrespectful throughout the whole thing. He just didn't behave as if he thought this was a serious situation.
Everyone on the jury was respectful and we walked through anything anyone had a question about. The only thing we really had any problems with was some of the language. We had the legal definition of "recklessly" but not "intentionally" or "knowingly", and especially on that last charge, we wrestled over the language a bit. But we just took our time and walked through everyone's thoughts. I think we worked together very well.
One thing that was cool, after it was all over, the Judge came back and talked with us for about 45 minutes. Answered any questions we had about the case if he could (like what happened to the baby, no one ever mentioned that) and just about different things. That was neat. I don't know if that is just something he likes to do, or if they all do that.
And, not like on tv....when someone objects, all the microphones are turned off and the lawyers converge at the Judge's bench. We didn't get to hear any of that. Just the sustained or over-ruled part. And, depending on the ruling, whether we were to disregard that or could include it in our deliberations.
I hate to keep saying it was interesting because violence was the reason we were there. It was interesting, though, to be inside the courtroom and learn some of those things. I go there to pay my car taxes, you know? I didn't even know where the courtrooms were, that first day. I have had some trouble with images popping into my head and I feel like my general trust in the good in people has diminished. But I do also feel like we did a good thing. A necessary thing. Hard, but in the end, good. I hope that makes sense.
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Right on, Grandpa! CAT's story and service has me wanting to get called again. I didn't get picked when I was called in a few years ago.
CAT, anyone ever tell you you have an amazing memory for detail? You should write crime fiction. Call the first book CATland, but don't set it in an old amusement park.
I don't think you saying interesting is disrespectful. It was and is interesting. A new (granted difficult) situation and I for one am learning a lot from what you are relaying to us all.
CATland! I could do a Chet and Bernie type thing, only with cats! Alas, I have always been a better reader than writer. Fiction writing, especially.Right on, Grandpa! CAT's story and service has me wanting to get called again. I didn't get picked when I was called in a few years ago.
CAT, anyone ever tell you you have an amazing memory for detail? You should write crime fiction. Call the first book CATland, but don't set it in an old amusement park.
I don't think you saying interesting is disrespectful. It was and is interesting. A new (granted difficult) situation and I for one am learning a lot from what you are relaying to us all.
I hesitate to say she was "lucky" as she still suffered injuries she never should have, but all too often we hear about the cases where the ex ends up being killed. And too often that level of violence by the perpetrator is repeated if not on that victim, then another. From what you said about how he responded to the female prosecutor, that has the potential here. Hopefully he'll receive some sort of anger management therapy while or in addition to serving time or have some other epiphany that will change his attitude so this won't happen again.
I agree with the necessity for an alternate - or sometimes, more than one - but that always seemed a bit frustrating.
Right. No one knows if a jury is going to take 15 minutes or 15 hours. So the judge tells everyone to leave their phone numbers with the clerk and, if the defendant is in custody (something that the jury isn't supposed to know), has the sheriff take the defendant back to jail. So when the jury verdict is reached, they have to get all those people back together.
I'd wager that the psychopath was already in jail. He would've come to court dressed in street clothes, because the theory (that I agree with) is that if the jury knows he's already in jail, that will be a prejudicial factor against him.
Aren't jury instructions fun? (Hint for everyone else: No.)
They don't all do that, and I sure wish they would. It helps give the jurors comfort and closure after performing such an important function. It happens more in rural areas than urban areas. But it should happen anyway. C'mon, judges, are you trying to maximize the hours on your salary? Talk to them.
Perfect sense, and thank you again.
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Yes. I do very much hope that this causes him to make positive changes. I do not know, though. He said, during the police interview, that he had been through this before. So we knew he had been in trouble for something before, but not what. One of the questions we asked the Judge afterwards was about that, and jumps in the video of his interview. They were questioning him about other things during those jumps, that had nothing to do with this. But he had no family support there. No one speaking for him but his lawyers.
He did have his present girlfriend there, watching, and I just hope she was listening, too. These girls are so young. I hope the current girlfriend listened and does some hard thinking. She also has a child with him though, which adds another whole level of difficulty. (Or, adds another level of simplicity, if you think about protecting the child.) That was something we were told after, too, about her also having a child with him. And another on the way with yet another girl. But he described himself in his testimony as a "family man." Oh my.
I just had to register. First time ever, and I have been a registered voter since I turned 18. I am in the queue for next year starting in January. If I get called, I will serve unless there is a major conflict I can't work around.
Cat - thanks for posting your experience!
Cat - thanks for posting your experience!
Makes you wonder what kind of upbringing he had that he would think that was acceptable behavior. The sad thing is so many of the women who are with these types think "it's not going to happen to me because I won't upset him like that other girl did and he loves me more than he did her" or some other rationalization but I truly do hope it won't be the case for them that they're his next victim. At least by coming to the decision your jury did they'll be safe while he's in jail and maybe have some time to think about it while they're not under his direct influence so they can make better choices for themselves and their child.