We are all back in the room at 9 am sharp. Everyone is tired, no one slept well last night. We decide to see where we all stand this am. I stated that the last thing I want to do is send this man to jail, but if I take my personal prejudices out, emotion out and follow the juror instructions, I have no choice but to find him guilt. Everyone agrees that no one wants to send this man to jail, but we have a job to do. We are now down to two who are on the fence.
We ask them to tell us why. Both cannot discuss without heavy tears. One person is very quiet, hardly ever talks, but we let her talk. She takes many breaks to get her composure.
One juror uses his work skills to create a chart to describe the cause and effect. He writes up the diagram of every action and the reasons behind each action. One undecided is decided now. We are down to one.
We go over the legal definitions over and over again. We decide to take a break. The mood is quite somber. We are getting nowhere it seems. We take a break.
One thing the defense said in the closing arguments, can you look your friends and family in the eye and tell them this is your decision? How will you feel about this next week? Next year?
The last hold out goes the bathroom. She comes back and is very quiet. Crying quietly. We agree its time to get back to it. We go around the room. The last juror is convinced that the man is guilty. She cries, nearly everyone cries. I am teary, but not weeping. We call to the bailiff for more tissues.
The presiding juror signs the form. We call the Bailiff again and hand her the form. We now have to wait an estimated 30 minutes to get everyone in the courtroom. No one says a word. Silence for nearly 30 minutes.
We are called into the courtroom. The presiding juror hands the statement to the Judge. She reads the verdict. I can hear his wife crying. I don't want to look. I don't look toward the back, I don't look at the defendant. I look at the Prosecutor. She is crying.
The Judge starts with Juror one. Is this decision your decision. Yes. Is this decision the decision of the jury. Yes. She asks each of us this question.
We are now excused back to deliberations. Again silence. We get our electronics back and are told the Judge is going to address us. We begin to open up about things amongst ourselves. The things we couldn't really discuss before. I brought up the fact that neither the Prosecutor or the Defense attorney knew how to use the video play back. It was very clunky. We wondered out loud what his sentence would be. Who was in the room.
The Judge comes in and thanks us and gives us all a certificate. She tells us that due to the nature of this trial, we are eligible for counseling sessions provided by the county. She tells us the sentencing date is Dec 13 and we are welcome to attend. At this point, I have no intention of being there, but I am very interested in the sentence. I believe the Judge will take leniency, but, she told us it has to do with his prior record. That was never entered into testimony, so we have no idea if he has a record or not.
We are told that the attorneys are outside if we wish to meet with them. I chose not to. Several others did stop to talk. I could do it next week, but not today
Ms. Temple. Today your received your justice. We found the defendant guilty of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.
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