Just finished jury duty and what I learned...worth reading

[AKcharger]

I just got off a 2 week sexual assault case and saw how frightfully close an innocent man came to going to prison. To watch other jurors be so (IMHO) easy swayed towards guilt based on unreliable, trivial and insignificant details was absolutely jaw-dropping. It took some skillful reminders and not a little luck to convince the "guilty" people that our job wasn't to prove the guy "innocent' but the state had to prove him guilty.  In the end, justice prevailed and after 2 years in jail since the accusations he's finally a free man.

I learned three very important things if you are in any way, shape, form involved with a crime:
1) DO NOT SAY A WORD when questioned by police...Yes, what you say CAN be used against you BEFORE you are read your rights
2) Whenever you are questioned have an attorney with you...the truth and wait a few hours till you have one
3) KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT...NO, not one word!!!!!!

Don't get me wrong, I have the highest respect and admiration for our law enforcement friends, they have a crappy yet important job. With that said they're there to put bad people in jail, and they do it very well...sometimes so well an innocent person can be made (98% of the time with their own words) to look guilty as well.

Here's the short version of the story:
Homeless man and homeless woman drinking all day/night with a bunch of other homeless people. At some point they play "stinky pinky" and then they both go to sleep and she wakes up with black eye. Both walk to the homeless shelter in the morning where someone notices she has a big ol' shiner and calls ambulance where she's processed through SART (rape treatment). During interview she's so drunk she can't stay awake or fully answer questions but said "Larry" punched her. In the mean time a detective questions Larry (Blood alcohol of .125) and hounds him over and over with the most leading questions like; "She didn't want you to do that did she..."  "Isn't it possible you could have...?" till he gets the answers he wants.

At trial, we are treated to recordings of the accused, DNA, blah, blah. Then the victim takes the stand and is all over the place on her story. She contradicts herself on almost everything, and not minor details, but key elements of her accusation...it's clear she has no clue what really happened. If she doesn't know what happened how can anyone be sure beyond a reasonable doubt anyone is guilty of anything? Well, what I thought would be a 30 minute deliberation turned into 2 days. I was absolutely astounded to find some jurors thought her unreliable testimony wasn't an issue, they felt the recordings of the accused "confessing" to the assault was proof enough!

At the reading of the verdict an absolutely priceless thing happened. The Accuser was on the phone to listen to the proceedings and could speak to the court over the speaker system (she lives in rural AK now) well, as the judge is talking he is interrupted constantly by the booming voice of the obviously drunk accuser blurting out barely intelligible remarks "Who am I talking to" "I just wanna say... shnarly darf marsharine hat..." "Thaash not what shush berio off erruuuug..." and other senseless but equally hilarious comments (the prosecutor was clearly not amused with her antics  ). If there was anyone with a shred of respect for the "victims" credibility she shattered it.

We also met with the judge and learned that if we had believed the drunk lady, the defendant would have had a mandatory minimum 30 year prison sentence not the 5 years or so we guessed it would be (jurors aren't told punishment lengths)

It felt VERY good to know you did the right thing

[mrsskip68]

Interesting and funny! Good on ya for keeping an open mind. Seems thats a rare thing nowadays!

[Ghoste]

Wow, frightening.  I wonder how quick your co-jurors would have been to find the homeless guy guilty based on shoddy testimony if he had worn a suit and been say, a member of the Kennedy family?

[RECHRGD]

I had a fair mount of respect for our justice system BEFORE spending five years and over 100K trying to get my daughter's kids back to her from a lieing sociopathic prick of an ex-husband.  Went through four lawyers and two judges.  In the end, it was obvious that he had been brainwashing the kids and lieing in court all along.  But, the last judge refused to overturn the original judgement due to the fact that he couldn't decriminate against a member of the military.  Hell with the kids, I guess..

[Cooter]

Just goes to show, tis better to not even have to deal with anything remotely regarding the justice system. Let alone two pos, drunken, idiots who just waisted taxpayers money.

However, I have learned from the wifey's ex, and a few run ins with the club that when dealing with cops, they will do about anything to just be done quickly and you don't mean sh*t to them. Once you are convicted, it is damn near impossible to undo it.

This is imo, due to over zealous prosecuters and their pride. Nobody wants to admit a mistake anymore due to lawsuits.
Wonder what woulda happened if the voice of reason haden't stepped in?
Are we a bunch of believing any bad info without doing any research people now?

[AKcharger]

Wow, frightening.  I wonder how quick your co-jurors would have been to find the homeless guy guilty based on shoddy testimony if he had worn a suit and been say, a member of the Kennedy family?

Well would have given him a lot more credibility.

For you guys that had to deal with the court for kids and family stuff...I don't even want to think about it, nightmare.

Cooters right...stay away from the legal system at all costs, make good decisions, stay away from bad situations and use common sense.

[John_Kunkel]

Each jury duty experience leaves me with the same thought: "I hope I'm never arrested and charged with a major crime". The machinations that occur in a court room make me want to.........(oops, that's a crime).

[ws23rt]

A good lesson about the critical value of a jury.  We sometimes whine about the call but without jury's---(reality checks for the justice machine)---there would be many more innocent folks in jail or otherwise ruined.

Few people want to do it me included but if I was falsely accused of something I would hope to have a jury give me a better chance than just the arresters and prosecutors view.

[Paul G]

I was on a 2 week jury trial, this guy was accused of murder. Long story short, he was found guilty and convicted for manslaughter. The evidence and testimony was overwhelming. He even confessed at first, almost proud of what he did, then recanted. We had 2 jurors who were so baffled by the defense attorney we had to keep going over the facts with them until they could see the truth. Very frustrating. The judge gave the little gang banger 53 years. I wanted him guilty of first degree murder, but, following the instructions given to us by the court, manslaughter was the proper fit.

Any involvement with the law is not a good thing. Right, wrong, innocent or guilty, everyone will pay the price and go through hell. Jury duty sucked big time. But I would do it again.