then, i moved to the county. i lived there for five years and never received a summons. never. i worked the elections, i always voted, i was visible as hell. they didn't need me.
one year and six months ago, i moved back to the city. i worked the elections, i voted, i was visible. they needed me.
i showed up and was called in for voir dire on a case this last monday. it is always slightly disconcerting to sit in a room with someone you are supposed to think is innocent when you know that something happened to get them into that room and it wasn't good. you don't know what that was and here you are answering all these highly personal questions. this is the system. we are the peers of this defendant and soon much about this person sitting in the chair waiting to defend him or herself will be revealed. whether we like it or not, we are all on equal ground at that moment.
the two times that i have deliberated a case have been as emotionally draining an event as my divorce or any other traumatic occurrence in my life. every day i'm on jury duty when i wake up, i plan all the things i'm going to do when i get out of the courthouse. what i inevitably do is grab a beer, collapse in a chair and talk to my cat because i can't talk to anyone else.
the case i worked this week was supposed to be wrapped up in a day. the defendant was already a convicted felon and the charge we were presented with was bad for him. very bad. we had no idea what he had done to become a felon, but not a single one of us wanted to take away that young man's second chance.
we went into the jury room and we hashed it out. we roll played. we got out the flip chart and wrote all of the names of all the players so there was no confusion. we requested evidence, passed it around and laid it all out in front of us. we argued. we agreed to disagree and we went home to sleep on it.
we returned in the morning and picked up right where we left off. not one single possibility was left unaddressed. we faced every single doubt and every single fact. in the end, there was no doubt. we found him guilty.
we asked for clemency.
we filed into the courtroom and gave our verdict. his shoulders collapsed and his expression melted into one of defeat and anguish. his lawyer polled the jury. he was cuffed and led out of the courtroom. i broke down into tears in the jury box.
afterward, the judge was very kind. he answered our questions and concerns. he told us the range of sentencing that was possible and promised to consider our recommendation. we took a collective breath and exited the courtroom. we have something that we share that we will never forget, but we broke apart anxious to return to our familiar worlds and the comforts in them.
i went home and looked up the defendant's felony charge. it was as bad as we had feared and he had served the amount of time i had speculated. it was that bad.
every day i do things that i enjoy. i get coffee at starbuck's whenever i want. i get in my car and drive spontaneously to new places. i bitch and moan about crap in my life that i can change. i take my freedom for granted.
i also have to live with the consequences of all of my actions, just like everyone else. in the end, it all comes down to choices.
i've made bad choices. he made bad choices. i truly hope that he doesn't make another.
everyone deserves forgiveness and i can't help but hope he finds peace and happiness--eventually.
