Being a juror is a serious civic duty for some, for others, it creates a sense of entitlement and empowerment.
This recalls an experience from some years ago.
The early pleasantries of being a fellow juror soon diminished when baggage from the past and present private worlds seeped in, threatening to stymie a just call on the evidence presented.
Evidence pointed clearly to who was guilty, but, the demography of the victim, in this case, created speculation on innocence by two jurors making it ripe for a hung jury. Every flawed, argument was presented to ‘prove’ the victim was the guilty one.
The judge stood strong, ‘you’ve been a good bunch so far, go back and deliberate further, if you have to spend another week here you will have to. A verdict is imperative’.
Frustration filled the deliberation room as heads butted, bigots surfaced, anger flared and personal issues came to the fore, ‘those people are the worst elements in society‘ attitude created deep-seated animosity in what was a somewhat easy going, multicultural panel just a few days earlier. Most were committed to seeing justice served and were uncomfortable with the manipulations of the bigots.
The legal team dropped hints during the process, too, that their client, the accused, was ‘no Mr. Darcy’
A subtle reminder to one of the jurors mooting for a hung jury, the one who casually mentioned during the early days, of affable newness, that an overseas holiday was booked and expressed the hope that jury duty should be ‘done and dusted’ by then – a reminder that the holiday booked might have to be shelved if the deliberation continued led to a sudden turnaround from the miscreants who worked hand in glove – both had birth origins from the same geographic location – could this have been the reason for the shared bigotry?
Morning brought a dramatically revised attitude, their previously ‘innocent’ person was now guilty as sin!!
Mercurial!
Personal baggage weighing heavily, stooping the shoulders of the juror should be left at the door of the jury room, just as the mobile phone is surrendered for safe keeping – to prevent external interference in the deliberation and evaluation of evidence.
Later it was revealed that the accused was being brought to court every day under tight security from prison. The accused was also under suspicion, to be tried at a later date, for rape!
No Mr. Darcy indeed!
What’s your take on jury duty? Twelve Angry Men or smooth sailing?
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