Not Guilty.
That was the finding of our jury in the case of someone accused of possessing a contraband firearm manufactured outside the United States.
The fact that it was made out of the U.S. and that it had traveled across borders in an unauthorized way made it a federal case.
Only thing is, the government did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt in our opinion.
Interestingly enough, when we entered the jury room most of us were still undecided about that. First thing after choosing a foreman, we took a paper ballot poll to see where we stood. If you are ever on a jury I highly recommend that you begin in this manner. It leaves the door open for the timid in the group to put down what they are feeling at that moment, without having to defend themselves right off and prevents any highly opinionated person from dominating the group.
I have been on three juries now and am amazed at how careful, deliberate, and meticulous the groups have all been. In my experience, ordinary people rise to the occasion in a remarkable way. I was quite struck also by the ease that some of us mis-remembered the testimonies. But with 12 people in the room, you can't get away with much lazy thinking let me tell you! As soon as someone would say, he said he paid 300 dollars for the car..... 5 people would say NO! He said 500! Oh yeah, then they would remember.
So when we went into the room, we had two not guilty, two guilty, and the rest of us were undecided. I was among the undecided. We were given 15 or more points by the judge on how to view the testimonies and the evidence. Very technical and precise points that we relied on heavily before our deliberations were over. Mine were dog eared and written upon.
We ended up with one juror who was still on the fence. She asked us all in turn to give her the one reason among the three or four we had available to us, that we were in doubt about the evidence. After we had gone around the table, she decided that it was true that the government did not have enough to convince us of the man's guilt.
I might add that her reluctance was in large part because she had been on a jury before and acquitted someone who turned out to be guilty. She regretted that enormously and didn't want to do it again.
It also struck me how careful everyone was not to belittle or berate anyone for being in doubt or giving more weight to certain elements of the evidence than to others. So we took our final vote and gave it to the marshal who then gathered everyone up to hear the verdict.
No wonder so many plays and movies are set in courtrooms. It IS a very dramatic moment. The defense lawyer (who was a woman) cried openly. She was quite convinced that her client was innocent. So much so that he took the stand in his defense, which is not required by law.
The burden of proof rests with the government.
And though it is true that in the American court system we may certainly set free guilty people, it is much LESS likely to jail innocent ones. If we err it is to err in favor of the accused.
There is only ONE perfect judge. But in the meantime, we have to do the best we can.
Do I think we could improve it?
You bet.
Anyway.... Something happened then that I was completely unprepared for. The judge invited us to come back into his chambers to talk about anything we wanted to, now that the case was finished. He said this was a government building, paid for by our taxes and he figured it should be our privilege to see the whole thing. 10 of the 13 of us stayed. (We had an alternate juror with us). We filed into a wood paneled and book lined office on the corner of the 15th floor. The view was spectacular. The judge (who was 70 years old by the way) sort of told us a little about himself and did say that he started out his career as a lawyer having great faith in the jury system, and that he maintains that same faith today.
Our one reluctant juror asked the judge what he thought of the case, and it was followed by another person asking a more pointed question about the evidence and he told us that he was surprised that it had ever been tried at all because the evidence was so slim and suspect. We ALL sighed and laughed in relief because we had confirmation that we were not alone in our assessment. And our fingernail biting juror went home sure in the knowledge that she had made the right choice.
Then he did something even more astonishing. He handed out to each of us a certificate of appreciation. I was gobsmacked.
I have one more thing to say.
I hear people whine A LOT about jury duty. And I admit to you that it does disrupt the lives of a lot of people. But next time, before you let that noise escape your lips, take a moment to think about how disputes are settled, say in ..... Iraq under Saddam, or in North Korea, or Columbia in the jungle. I would rather sit until my tailbone is numb in a court of law in the United States of America, than have justice be at the whim of a madman or coming from the business end of a rifle. I rest my case.
ALL RISE:
Oh yay, oh yay, oh yay....
"The case has been decided and duly recorded. Court dismissed."
Their Honors, Judges, Cedric, Nigel and Basil presiding forthwith, to wit and without further ado.
Adieu.
(It's about freaking time. The cookie jar has been empty for four days. Hmmfph.)
That was the finding of our jury in the case of someone accused of possessing a contraband firearm manufactured outside the United States.
The fact that it was made out of the U.S. and that it had traveled across borders in an unauthorized way made it a federal case.
Only thing is, the government did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt in our opinion.
Interestingly enough, when we entered the jury room most of us were still undecided about that. First thing after choosing a foreman, we took a paper ballot poll to see where we stood. If you are ever on a jury I highly recommend that you begin in this manner. It leaves the door open for the timid in the group to put down what they are feeling at that moment, without having to defend themselves right off and prevents any highly opinionated person from dominating the group.
I have been on three juries now and am amazed at how careful, deliberate, and meticulous the groups have all been. In my experience, ordinary people rise to the occasion in a remarkable way. I was quite struck also by the ease that some of us mis-remembered the testimonies. But with 12 people in the room, you can't get away with much lazy thinking let me tell you! As soon as someone would say, he said he paid 300 dollars for the car..... 5 people would say NO! He said 500! Oh yeah, then they would remember.
So when we went into the room, we had two not guilty, two guilty, and the rest of us were undecided. I was among the undecided. We were given 15 or more points by the judge on how to view the testimonies and the evidence. Very technical and precise points that we relied on heavily before our deliberations were over. Mine were dog eared and written upon.
We ended up with one juror who was still on the fence. She asked us all in turn to give her the one reason among the three or four we had available to us, that we were in doubt about the evidence. After we had gone around the table, she decided that it was true that the government did not have enough to convince us of the man's guilt.
I might add that her reluctance was in large part because she had been on a jury before and acquitted someone who turned out to be guilty. She regretted that enormously and didn't want to do it again.
It also struck me how careful everyone was not to belittle or berate anyone for being in doubt or giving more weight to certain elements of the evidence than to others. So we took our final vote and gave it to the marshal who then gathered everyone up to hear the verdict.
No wonder so many plays and movies are set in courtrooms. It IS a very dramatic moment. The defense lawyer (who was a woman) cried openly. She was quite convinced that her client was innocent. So much so that he took the stand in his defense, which is not required by law.
The burden of proof rests with the government.
And though it is true that in the American court system we may certainly set free guilty people, it is much LESS likely to jail innocent ones. If we err it is to err in favor of the accused.
There is only ONE perfect judge. But in the meantime, we have to do the best we can.
Do I think we could improve it?
You bet.
Anyway.... Something happened then that I was completely unprepared for. The judge invited us to come back into his chambers to talk about anything we wanted to, now that the case was finished. He said this was a government building, paid for by our taxes and he figured it should be our privilege to see the whole thing. 10 of the 13 of us stayed. (We had an alternate juror with us). We filed into a wood paneled and book lined office on the corner of the 15th floor. The view was spectacular. The judge (who was 70 years old by the way) sort of told us a little about himself and did say that he started out his career as a lawyer having great faith in the jury system, and that he maintains that same faith today.
Our one reluctant juror asked the judge what he thought of the case, and it was followed by another person asking a more pointed question about the evidence and he told us that he was surprised that it had ever been tried at all because the evidence was so slim and suspect. We ALL sighed and laughed in relief because we had confirmation that we were not alone in our assessment. And our fingernail biting juror went home sure in the knowledge that she had made the right choice.
Then he did something even more astonishing. He handed out to each of us a certificate of appreciation. I was gobsmacked.
I have one more thing to say.
I hear people whine A LOT about jury duty. And I admit to you that it does disrupt the lives of a lot of people. But next time, before you let that noise escape your lips, take a moment to think about how disputes are settled, say in ..... Iraq under Saddam, or in North Korea, or Columbia in the jungle. I would rather sit until my tailbone is numb in a court of law in the United States of America, than have justice be at the whim of a madman or coming from the business end of a rifle. I rest my case.
ALL RISE:
Oh yay, oh yay, oh yay....
"The case has been decided and duly recorded. Court dismissed."
Their Honors, Judges, Cedric, Nigel and Basil presiding forthwith, to wit and without further ado.
Adieu.
(It's about freaking time. The cookie jar has been empty for four days. Hmmfph.)