My Life As A Juror - Part 3

Day 2- Tuesday -  arrived and I got to the courthouse about 30 minutes early. No special juror security entrance so the same pat down as the day before.  Went to the courthouse by my lonesome where we were instructed to enter a side door.  This juror room was much larger, including a table which actually could sit all 14 jurors.  There was a men's and women's bathroom inside and that was about it.  I was greeted by "breakfast" which was individually wrapped donuts and juice in little sealed cups.  I will thank Weight Watchers for my decision to skip breakfast.  I don't drink coffee but apparently, it wasn't very good.


One thing I suggest if you ever become a juror.  SHOW UP ON TIME. Two people arrived late which honestly annoyed the hell out of me.  No one wants to be there any longer than they had to be so you potentially having us start late does not make you a favorite amongst the other jurors.  On top of being late, one of the jurors then had to pump.  Problem when there is no outlet that will reach the bathrooms.  Another delay in finding her a private area...which ended up being the judge's chamber bathroom. 

I don't believe I mentioned was that there were actually 2 defendants on this case.  My guy - the alleged shooter and another guy - the alleged driver and the one who got the gun.  I have no idea what the other guy was actually charged with.  Same trial but 2 sets of defense lawyers and 2 juries.  And just to clarify - this was a drive by.  Defendants allegedly drove into rival gang territory, shot one guy 4 times in the legs - he lived, drove a couple of blocks and shot another guy in the chest - he did not survive. Oh and all this happened in 2007. Love our speedy judicial system.


So we were finally escorted down a hallway to the court room.  Now this is the court room I was expecting - large, stately and marble.  I was surprised to see 14 other people sitting in jury like formation.  Turns out that both juries would be hearing the case at the same time.  We took a seat, notepads and pencils in hand.  There was no distinction between me as an alternate and the "normal" jurors.  I found that interesting so I thought you may too.


The court was set up just like on TV - Judge raised up in front, stenographer (HOW DO THEY DO THAT?), audience at the back, jurors on the side (hard wooden chairs - ouch), and the State facing the judge with backs to the audience.  The only exception was that the defendant and their lawyers were seated directly across from the jury box facing us.  It's so much fun to stare at potential murderers for hours each day.


State calls a witness...the mother of the victim.  As all can guess, very sad - gang banger or not, a mother lost her child. The evening of the shooting, someone had called the mother and told her and she drove to the scene and found her son dead/dying on the sidewalk.  It was  short and neither defense teams cross examined her.  The mother was granted permission to stay in the court and watch the remainder of the trial.


This is where things become a bit confused.  I wasn't allowed to bring notes home and I didn't record anything in the evenings as we were strictly forbidden to discuss the case with anyone so I'm not quite sure of the order of things.


There were a few "eye witnesses" who were out walking that evening who saw the van drive up the street and shot the victim.  The State called these individuals as witness and that is where it became clear of all the lies that were happening.  That is pretty much how I sum up the case LIES LIES LIES.  Swearing to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth means NOTHING. 


I understand that it's been 4 years since all this has happened but do I believe you when you say you have no recollection of testifying in front of a Grand Jury?  No.  It seemed like everyone was taking back what they had testified to 4 years ago.  "Did you identify the defendant in a line up" "No" "But you did - here, isn't this your signature?" etc. etc.


You could see how frustrated the State was becoming - this is obviously not the testimonies that they were expecting. Were they lying then or lying now? This case was not so clear anymore.


After the State did their questioning, the defense had their turn.  The trick? When my guy's attorney went up, the other jury had to leave.  When the other guy's lawyer went up, we had to leave.  So as you could imagine there was a lot of waiting. Waiting during breaks, waiting during side bars, waiting during cross examinations.  Thanks for helping pass the day Sudoku


Lunch.  What was lunch that day?  I can't remember but there was carrots.  I took a heaping spoonful of them because after all, you can't mess up carrots.  Never mind, you can mess up carrots.  That's when I vowed to bring in my own lunch.


The jury room was still pretty damn quiet.  There were little conversations here and there.  I still did not know one person's name but some personalities started to come out which is always fun to discover.  On the topic of pregnancy, "Do women really crave pickles?"  nice little gems like that.


The most difficult testimony of the entire trial came on Tuesday afternoon.  We walked in and he was already at the stand dressed in a prison jumpsuit.  We quickly were informed that he was being tried for murder in an unrelated case.  This was the friend of the victim who was with him when the shooting occurred.  You could tell right away that he had NO DESIRE to be there.


The short of it is that shortly after the shooting, this guy identified the defendant as the shooter.  When the State asked him to stand up and point out the shooter, the guy refused to do so.  He stood up, kept his head down and would not even look in the direction of the defendants.  He refused to ID him even though he previously had.  The guy now claims that he lied to police about who did the shooting.  The State then asked about the Grand Jury testimony which, of course, this guy had no recollection of.  The State then read EVERY line of the transcript from the Grand Jury testimony.  The State would read a line and ask "Did you say this?" and the guy would say "I don't remember".  This went on for a mind numbingly long time.  This guy was obviously lying through his teeth.  He was very heart broken for his friend - that I believed.  So many lies.


During the case when I wasn't blowing my nose or having a mini coughing attach, I did a lot of watching.  I would keep an eye on the defendant at key points of testimony.  I watched the lawyers a lot - the objections/overruling/sustaining all were quite numerous and again entertaining.  I was also very compelled by the audience.  I watched them and I wondered if they were watching me right back.  Can't help but be a bit paranoid.


I promise to wrap this up soon!