breakdown
i feel awful.
i've just spend the past week sitting on a jury for a rape trial. and not just any rape trial - the rape of a young girl. now, i was excited to be on jury duty, and i'm still very glad that i've had the opportunity to do so. but no matter who you are, sitting on a jury for a case such as that is mentally exhausting. all we had to go on was her word against the defendant's. how do you decide innocence or guilt based solely on one person's word against another's? the alleged rape happened years ago, so there was no physical evidence. the result? we had a hung jury. according to the law, believing the testimony of one witness is sufficient proof to convict. however, not all of us completely believed the testimony given. but then again, some of us did. i'm not going to go into more detail than that here because i don't want to think about it anymore today. but if you're curious, you can ask me and i'll tell you all about it. it was an extremely difficult deliberation process, and although we never reached a clear verdict, i have the utmost respect for my fellow jurors and their convictions.
i report back to jury duty tuesday morning, and there's a chance that i will be on another trial next week. i'm not sure if i want to be on another one or not. i enjoyed my time getting to know the other jurors, and the process has been very educational. i also can't imagine sitting on a case more difficult to decide on than this one. however, i'm pretty burnt out. maybe the weekend will help.
and now, switching gears - i've been to more states than erica m (i think?), but still not all that many. i would love to go on a road trip, but i can't see that happening until i graduate. (how's summer 2007 looking for you, erica?)
create your own visited states map
i've just spend the past week sitting on a jury for a rape trial. and not just any rape trial - the rape of a young girl. now, i was excited to be on jury duty, and i'm still very glad that i've had the opportunity to do so. but no matter who you are, sitting on a jury for a case such as that is mentally exhausting. all we had to go on was her word against the defendant's. how do you decide innocence or guilt based solely on one person's word against another's? the alleged rape happened years ago, so there was no physical evidence. the result? we had a hung jury. according to the law, believing the testimony of one witness is sufficient proof to convict. however, not all of us completely believed the testimony given. but then again, some of us did. i'm not going to go into more detail than that here because i don't want to think about it anymore today. but if you're curious, you can ask me and i'll tell you all about it. it was an extremely difficult deliberation process, and although we never reached a clear verdict, i have the utmost respect for my fellow jurors and their convictions.
i report back to jury duty tuesday morning, and there's a chance that i will be on another trial next week. i'm not sure if i want to be on another one or not. i enjoyed my time getting to know the other jurors, and the process has been very educational. i also can't imagine sitting on a case more difficult to decide on than this one. however, i'm pretty burnt out. maybe the weekend will help.
and now, switching gears - i've been to more states than erica m (i think?), but still not all that many. i would love to go on a road trip, but i can't see that happening until i graduate. (how's summer 2007 looking for you, erica?)
create your own visited states map