On multiple occasions I have heard and seen people discuss Jury Duty and the oh so many ways to get out of it or thankful they didn't get selected for a certain trial. For years I have wanted to serve on a jury - I find the process fascinating and it intrigues me. Would I necessarily want to be on a murder trial, probably not but I would not lie during the selection process to purposely get out of it. I never got selected for the few trials that I was questioned for - because of where I worked or because I knew the officers involved personally.
Now our Judicial System may not be perfect but it is what we have - to be judged by a panel of our peers. It's our duty as a citizen of this country to serve this system. It's also our duty as human beings to ensure a fair and impartial judgement is given. So I wonder - if people are purposefully finding ways to not get selected for a jury are there others that are doing the opposite? Why do so many people not want to serve? Because it interferes with their life? Because they just don't want to? Because deciding the fate of another human being is too much to live with?
There are two sides to every criminal case - the person on trial and the victims of the situation that brought this whole thing together. How about rethinking Jury Duty for a moment.
A hit and run motor vehicle crash - vehicle A failed to stop for a stop sign and turned out onto the other road right in front of another vehicle. Vehicle B cannot stop in time and crashes into the back/side of Vehicle A. The driver of Vehicle A has been drinking, his license is suspended and he takes off. The front seat passenger in Vehicle B is hurt in the crash, nothing serious but requires medical attention and there is significant damage to the front end of Vehicle B. EMS and law enforcement arrive, law enforcement gets a great description and a partial plate of Vehicle A from the driver and passenger of Vehicle B. They soon locate Vehicle B and it's owner a few miles away in the driveway of his residence. The hood is still warm, the owner is sitting on the front steps of his home smoking a cigarette, there is damage to the back/side of Vehicle A that is in line with the damage on Vehicle B.
This is the basics of the case set before you during Jury selection. Would you do everything you can to get out of being selected? Or would you be OK with being on that Jury? Could you decide (after hearing all the evidence from both sides) whether the man that owns Vehicle A is responsible for this crash, for the damage done to Vehicle B, for the injuries to the passenger in Vehicle B?
Now, how long ago do you think this crash happened? A month? Six months? A year? You may be surprised to learn how long it takes to even get to the point of jury selection. But now, after countless court appearances, continuances, investigations, etc, it's finally time to select a jury. Maybe this is a one or two day trial. That's not too much to ask of a citizen of that county to give up to decide if this man is guilty or not right? Can you live with your decision? Well I would think you could if you listened objectively, were not biased and are not allowed to be swayed by others of your own decision based on facts.
Now let's take a look at another case. It's March 12, 2013 - A 22 month old child is home alone with his step-father. As his mother is driving home from Boise she is told by her husband that the child fell and they are going to the hospital. EMS is called to the home and the child is flown to St. Al's, he is hurt badly and is unresponsive. At the hospital the doctor's say he is brain dead. He is transported to St. Luke's and over the next two days his family goes through pure hell. The injuries are not accidental the doctors say. And the step-father is taken in for questioning while the child's mother and grandmother are escorted back to see his battered body laying on a hospital bed. When questioned at the scene and at the sheriff's office the step-father's story changes numerous times. On the morning of March 13, 2013 the child is officially declared dead.
Fast forward to August 16, 2013. The autopsy report is completed, lab results are in, a death certificate has been issued, numerous meetings with law enforcement, prosecutor's office, court hearings for motions for one thing or another, the preliminary hearing is finally here. This is a two day hearing where the prosecutor and the defense will state their cases before the county judge to show the defendant should (or should not) be bound over to district court for 1st Degree Murder. Law enforcement officers, the coroner and a child abuse expert are called to testify. After listening to graphic details of the injuries the child sustained the judge rules there is enough evidence to bind the defendant over for trial.
Fast forward to today, January 21, 2014. The original trial date was scheduled for January 7, 2014 but due to "new" evidence that needed to be tested a continuance was given. New trial date - March 31, 2014. But on January 10, 2014 the defendant now has a new attorney so the trial must be pushed back yet again - because the new attorney needs time to catch up on the case and prepare. Now court dates are in limbo waiting to see how much time the new attorney thinks he will need.
But there's a lot taking place during all this time. Between September and January, and still continuing, decisions about jury selections have been made. The judge, prosecutor and defense attorney have worked together to create a jury questionnaire - that was still incomplete and now has to have a new attorney review it and begin working together once again to finalize it.
The trial will last five weeks - the first week is jury selection, the remaining four weeks will be the trial. Then the jury will need to deliberate and come to a decision on guilt or innocence.
You receive a letter from the Jury Commissioner - you are to report for a Jury Questionnaire. The process is expected to last four hours. You arrive and you begin the questionnaire. Will you write your answers so that one side or the other (or maybe both) will most definitely not want you on the jury or will you answer honestly? You know by the instructions given this a murder trial, a trial expected to last five weeks. What will you do?
And what if so many people think the same way - answer "correctly" so they don't get picked? Then the trial gets delayed again. A change of venue happens and another six months passes before the selection process can start again. Now both the victim's mother, infant brother and the rest of his family, along with the defendant's family, witnesses, prosecutor, defense attorney, etc have to pack up and go to another part of the state for a trial.
Yes you as a juror will decide the guilt or innocence of a man accused of murdering a 22 month old child. Can you live with it? Can you be upstanding and listen to the evidence and make an educated decision based on the facts given to you?
I'd rather be in your shoes Mr. or Miss Juror than in mine.
Grandma Kathy