re: Tales from Jury Duty . . .

I got picked for a murder trial around 1999 or 2000. The guys cousin had called him to come to her house because she was having a fight with her boyfriend. He made the mistake of taking a gun and when the fight broke out he killed the guy.

This was my first experience on a jury and I was rather young at the time. What struck me as strange was that 2 of the jurors picked with me knew the guy and had worked with him.

As the case went on I was really trying to pay attention and do the right thing. The prosecutor wanted murder 1 of course and the defense was trying to show that it was an accident. The witnesses testimony for lack of a better word absolutely sucked. They were there but nobody could or would give any straight answers.

When we went in to deliberate a vote was taken first and the 2 people that knew him basically said not guilty. We talked some more and all finally agreed. No one thought the guy went there intentionally to kill the guy. He carried a gun into a situation that escalated and he killed someone. The final verdict was voluntary manslaughter. The prosecutor was not satisfied though and polled the jury when the verdict came in. I think the guy served about 12 - 15 years in prison.

I ran into him at a store recently (this is a small town). He recognized me and was cordial.

Anyway that's my jury duty story.