Back in April 2007 I was on a jury for a case that involved a man being charged with Assault On a Peace Officer with a Deadly Object. I think I was the only one in the jury room (where you sit and wait to be picked) that wanted to serve on a jury. And if I got picked I wanted to be foreman. I was able to do both.
Those who haven't served think that coming up with a verdict is easy. And it's not.
I'm watching the judge give the jury their finally instructions in the Casey M. Anthony trial and what he's saying to the jury is what we were told in our trial. I am speaking of the break down of the charges. Then when you get to the jury room you're looking at the break down again, but now on paper. It can be overwhelming because of the details that are there.
Being foreman put more pressure on the person because you are now looked upon to run the show and to basically referee disputes that break out between jurors. I only had a minor one and it was civil. But I also had to explain things to the jurors. I also had to make sure all the paperwork was signed and dated correctly. It was also my responsibility to ask the judge questions via writing when we confused about something.
I am not sure how long we were back in the jury room, but it does seem like you're back there a long time because you have to convince all 12 people to agree with each other and the way the charges are broken down, people can agree that there was a weapon present, but may not agree that it was used intentionally. I remember one lady saw the object as deadly but that wasn't what the question asked. I don't remember the exact working of the document but it basically asked if the object was deadly. We all said no because it was an object. It only became deadly when it was used. But the lady said the object was deadly because IT WAS USED in the crime. That's where a lot of our time was spent and it made good arguments.
We ended up finding the guy guilty of assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon. We weren't there for the sentencing. No big deal to me.
I would love to serve on a jury again and serve as foreman. I almost got on a five week case in which a father was accused of killing his son. But as it turned out they had the jury picked. We were basically an alternate jury to be picked.
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