My civic duty

Last Monday I reported for Jury Duty. Three years straight! The first year my name was called and I was to report to a JP (Justice of the Peace) court for a civil matter. Once there, I waited. 30 minutes or so later and I was told the parties settled and I was free to go. Last year my number was too large to be called to a pool and I went home again. This year my number was in the first pool of potential jurors to be called up. I reported to the 282nd District Court where I filled out a questionnaire. The questionnaires were numbered and my new number was 46, I think (the number was never referred to again). Our pool was 65. I figured there would be 12 eligible jurors selected before they got to 46 but I was wrong! Not only was number 46 selected (me), number 64 of 65 was as well!

That takes care of Monday.

Tuesday the trial began. We heard two witnesses, the victim and his "friend", the former girlfriend and mother of the defendants daughter. Wednesday we heard testimony from police officers and the prosecution rested. So did the defense! We were sent to deliberate and we rendered a verdict. Here are the basics of the story:

The victim and "friend" were at the victim's apartment when the defendant and his brother kicked in the door, fought with the victim, shot him in the face with his own gun, pistol whipped him and left.

Yes, there's a lot more to the story. There always is but I won't go into it here.

The judicial processes were very interesting but the case was heartbreaking. My own thoughts, after all was said and done, are that a manipulative young woman, tired of being "pestered" by her ex, arranged for the confrontation but the wrong man was shot. However, she effectively got her result. Her ex has now been found guilty of a felony and was sentenced to 23 years in prison (yeah, we had to hear more testimony and deliberate over the penalty...that was Thursday). I just don't know if that is enough for her.

Anyway, the "mastermind", so to speak, caused a horrific crime to be commited and she walks free. Fortunately, the victim is no longer "dating" her. Yes, he is doing OK. He still has a few more surgeries and healing to do, but he's OK. The defendant is going where he should be going, no matter his motive. His brother's trial comes up next month.

If you ask, I can tell you more.