I was glad to have Girl's Night with Amy & Jamie on Tuesday when I realized I'd have to make my final verdict for the Burglary case I was on at Jury Duty on Wednesday morning.
When I arrived at the courthouse on Wednesday I had spent the entire previous day's afternoon and evening thinking about what I needed to do. I had been thinking with my heart and emotions for the most part but I knew I needed to think with my head and do what was right. We had listened to the Closing Arguments from the Prosecution and Defense Attorney's on Tuesday and went back to the Deliberation room and were at a 4-8 split. We only had about 30 minutes in the room before we were told to meet back there tomorrow morning. Taking the time apart was the best decision for everyone because we knew what we needed to do. A lot of people were on the fence the previous day and the first thing I said when I got into the room was, 'I think we all know what was about to happen here, and we can sit here and deliberate all morning, thinking about the what if's, but we can't prove intent, so we need to follow what we've been told.' Then I said, I had been very emotional the previous evening and the woman next to me said, it's a matter of black and white, it's one or the other, and it doesn't matter how we feel. They had to be proved guilty and in this situation, there was reasonable doubt, we couldn't prove intent, therefore, we all voted not guilty and within 5 minutes of walking in the door, we were handing in our Final Verdict.
If someone was knocking on your door, you weren't expecting anyone, you didn't recognize them, but they continued to knock. Then they started to pound on the door, messing with the door knob and lock. After 10 minutes they walked to the back of your house, saw that they were re-enforced with bars, then walked back to the front and continued to pound. As you set your alarm and they heard when it was activated and said, someone is in there, and stayed there for a few minutes until they fled the scene but were caught by authorities and didn't resist, what would you think their intention was? I guarantee they weren't pounding on your door to sit on a comfy couch and watch some TV. But guess what. It's not up to me to decide what they would or wouldn't do. Unfortunately, the police didn't do a thorough job and because of that, these two guys are getting off. Yes, I know they didn't actually get into the house but what were they doing there, in the middle of the day, for 15 minutes? We all need to think realistically about it, and hope that they have learned their lesson, and a Lawyer won't need to tell the next Burglary Victim that they were at a trial in the past and were given a verdict of not guilty because there wasn't enough evidence. How frustrated would you feel? I know I did my Civic Duty and I'm proud of myself and glad that I won't have to go back for another 18 months!
I think one of the coolest things about being done with the case was getting to talk to the Lawyers after. Of course, the DA wanted to know why we voted not guilty and we told him there just wasn't enough evidence to prove intent. I spoke on behalf of all of us that we thought he was great, intelligent, funny, and very respectful and it was an unfortunate situation. The Defense Attorney's were very appreciative of our decision and asked if there was anything they could do to better themselves for their next case. A bunch of people spoke up about some pet peeves with each of the lawyers but said for the most part, they did a good job in reinforcing that we had to prove intent and if we couldn't we would have to vote not guilty. By burning that into our minds it gave them the edge because we knew they were right.
So to my reader's, if your house ever gets Burglarized, make sure that the Police take fingerprints, insist upon it, and give the best description you possibly can. Give them anything that sticks out, or is out of the ordinary and you'll be in a far better place than the family in my case was. Be safe and be fair.
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