Deliberation & Verdict - June 23, 2015
I was happy because I knew we had a chance to end the trial today. But mentally prepped myself to come in tomorrow morning. We had to pick a foreman (head juror), he was to fill out all the paper work and facilitate the deliberation. We didn't know where to start. All I knew was that I was cold has fuck and wanted to warm my body up. I got a cup of coffee, nasty as hell, but freshly brewed.
We started by just voting. It was 9 guilty, 3 not guilty. So we continued deliberating. The male jurors in the room agreed that the defendant was wrong and broke the law. All the male jurors also agreed that the defendant knew what he was doing and did it anyway. The difficult part was the mom's emotional plea to us that it was an accident. After more deliberating, it was obvious we couldn't find the defendant not guilty just because of the mom's plea. We also didn't like the fact that the defendant, in a court setting acted like he knew he was breaking the law and would do it again. It gave us a feeling that he was better than any citizen on his island. That didn't sit well with us. After 30 minutes, we found the defendant guilty.
We went back into the court and the judge's assistant read the verdict. The defense lawyer was visibly upset. Although she put on a good show, her case had no substance and in the end the prosecuting attorney did his homework and it was obvious that he won. He won the battle of prep. He won the battle of presentation. He won the battle of convincing the jury that the defendant was guilty.
As I drove home in traffic, I reflected on a great experience. I also was concern about if I ever was to get into trouble, I would need a good attorney. I would pay up the ass, but someone who does their job well can convince a jury to decide your fate.