I was pretty irritated when I was summoned for Jury Duty - there is a lot going on at work and home and the last thing I needed was to get behind for the sake of Jury Duty! Now that the experience is over, the opportunity to serve on a jury for an attempted murder trial was incredible and while it was a small inconvenience, it is definitely something everyone should experience.
Maryland has a "one day / one trial" system whereby you show up when summoned. You are then sent to a court room where you may serve (if not dismissed by the state or defense) for either one day (multiple cases in one day) or one trial (multiple days for one trial). I served for two days on an attempted murder trial which was a huge eye opener with regards to how our judicial system works - or is supposed to work. Since the trial is over, I can talk about it and I figured I would share the experience. The defendant was on trial for attempted murder of his nephew. The nephew claimed that his uncle stabbed him twice, once in the neck and once in the arm, during an altercation in the house where they both lived. The defense attorney was absolutely horrendous and really did nothing to sway my opinions on court appointed representation versus those who can afford to pay for an attorney. Fortunately for the defendant, the state prosecutor did a shitty job of presenting the evidence. The effort/money spent on the investigation and trial left more holes than the Dolphins coaching staff and left the jury with very little to work with. There were four charges that we had to decide on: Attempted Murder, Attempted Voluntary Manslaughter, 2nd Degree Assault, and First Degree Assault. At the onset of the trial, after opening statements, it seemed this guy was going away for a long time. By the end of the trial, we had a hard time finding him guilty on the smallest of the charges, 2nd Degree Assault! We were presented with all kinds of evidence: a bloody shirt, bloody pants, photos of the knife wounds, a bloody knife, a recorded statement (audio) from the police station, testimony from the nephew, testimony from two cops, testimony from two detectives, and finally testimony from the defendant himself. What we weren't given is what hurt the prosecution's case the most: no photos of the crime scene, no testing of the blood on the knife, no testimony from medical professionals as to the severity of the wounds (which were subcutaneous and not very severe at all), no testimony from the neighbors who the victim claimed had knowledge of the ongoing issues between the defendant and victim, and finally, no evidence that could help determine if "intent" to kill or harm existed. While "intent" is hard to prove, we had no evidence that would help us determine "intent"! Since the burden was on the state, we unanimously found the defendant not guilty on the two "major" charges: Attempted Murder and Attempted Voluntary Manslaughter - both charges have specific criteria surrounding intent (among other criteria) and since intent to kill/harm could not be determined without making too many assumptions/inferences, we were left to decide on the two remaining charges - assault in the 1st and 2nd degree. After taking a look at the wounds along with the testimony from both parties involved regarding the way in which the altercation took place, it was clear that the defendant was reacting to being placed into a choke hold. The defendant was in the kitchen at the time, preparing food and had a knife in his hand/or close (perhaps in front of him) when he was choked. We felt his response to being choked caused the knife wounds to the victim. When we reenacted the testimony from both parties as to how the altercation took place, we found that the defendants testimony coincided with the wounds whereby the victim's testimony was not even close! The only part we struggled with was as to whether or not the defendant's response to being choked was reasonable - without recklessness, or if it was perfect self defense. We concluded that while the response was appropriate, the fact that he had a knife was reckless - he could have dropped the knife/or not picked it up before engaging the nephew who had him in a choke hold. The defendant could have also avoided the situation by removing himself from the situation earlier in the day (I didn't give you guys all the details that led up to the altercation but it was an escalating, all day event). We were on the edge as to finding him not guilty on all charges but could not see his response as total self defense as outlined by the laws and definitions surrounding the charges and were left with no other choice given the evidence than to convict him on the 2nd degree assault charge. Moral of the story: don't put someone in a choke hold, especially when they have a knife in their hands! A few other items I found interesting. - The defendant said that when he first went to jail he weighed 145 pounds. He looked pretty good for being 56 years old. He looked totally different in the court room. He weight 196 pounds and wanted to be sure he voiced his concern about the food in the prison system: all carbs... rice, white bread, potatoes, etc. On top of being incarcerated, you aren't even fed an appropriate diet! While he could have not eaten the carb-loaded food, what are his other options? - The state's attorney, while well-spoken, well dressed, and educated, made it clear that he (the state) spent about $10 on the case in terms of gathering evidence, preparing, etc. I wonder what kinds of cases get the most preparation; I would have thought an attempted murder case would have been more thoroughly prepared. - Most cases could probably be resolved in a much shorter time frame but there are breaks every 20 minutes and then an hour and a half for lunch/dinner... no wonder people love government jobs! Anyway, I thought that those of you who haven't had the opportunity to serve on a jury might find my experience interesting... I know I did. Tango ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Create robust enterprise, web RIAs. 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