I’ve been called for jury duty often but selected only once, when I was in my mid-20s and working as a newspaper reporter. I thought my job would disqualify me; it didn’t. I served about a week on a rape trial.
That trial had a “Perry Mason twist” dramatic enough for television. The defense attorney tried to shake the victim’s credibility by claiming she couldn’t even describe where the attack took place. For example, she said it was in a car about half a mile from a highway, while other evidence suggested the distance was more like 40 yards. Then the prosecutor stood and asked:
“How far apart are you and I right now?”
“A hundred feet,” she answered.
After lunch, the prosecutor produced a tape measure, stretched it between them, and asked her to read the length: 12 feet.
Everyone on the jury instantly got the point: the victim was an unusually bad judge of distance. That didn’t make her a liar or impeach the essence of her testimony. She just couldn’t look at something and tell you how far away it was.*
We deliberated thoroughly, giving the defendant the benefit of every reasonable doubt. Everyone took the responsibility profoundly seriously. Then we found him guilty.
People moan when they get a jury summons, and strategize ways to get out of it, but I think everybody should serve on a jury at least once. I left satisfied and proud, with more faith in my fellow citizens and the system.
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* I still think about what a gamble that was for the prosecutor. It seemed like a completely spontaneous and unrehearsed question on his part. What if she’d answered it correctly?
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1 comment:
Like you, I've been called to jury duty numerous times. Like you, so far I've only been on one jury. I found our jury members were deadly serious as far as understanding the facts and undertaking the deliberation in order to give an honest verdict. I was pleased with my fellow jury members' dedication to the task (and very glad I wasn't elected foreperson). I waited after the case with a fellow jury member for a city bus, and we talked about how interesting it was, but also how we clearly all wanted to be really sure we were doing the right thing. It was a reassuring experience.
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