You know how it is when you are in middle school and the teacher has a strict NO PASSING NOTES policy but because you are in middle school, you 1) Do the opposite of what the teacher says, and 2) Must pass notes because you absolutely HAVE to tell your BFF that your crush might have looked your way that morning (OMG!)? Well, that's kind of how blogging has been for me this week. I have so much other stuff going on and am really trying to squeeze it in when the teacher isn't looking...
I was called for jury duty on Tuesday. Unlike most people, I was pretty excited! I had never been called for duty before and was interested in everything about it. I've watched enough Law & Order and have read enough Jodi Picoult to understand that sometimes people are wrongly convicted. I was excited for the decision to potentially be in my hands! I was going to go in with a clear mind and hear both sides of the story and no matter what, I would decide if the defendant was guilty or not guilty based solely on the facts...
...Until I saw that man and I heard the charges that were brought against him. I walked into the courtroom with about 50 other potential jurors and sat while the judge read that this 45-year-old man was charged with three Class A felony charges of child molesting and a single Class C felony charge of child molesting. He was arrested on the charges in November. While the charges were being read (in much more detail than you read in the papers, mind you), I watched that man. I watched his face and I watched his reactions to the charges. Before even knowing whether or not I was going to be on that jury, I knew in my heart that the man before me was guilty. I listened as the judge and both attorneys questioned my peers. I was never questioned. I was not chosen to be a juror. I was dismissed. As I was walking out of the courtroom, I saw the now 13-year-old girl that suffered the abuse. I was grateful to not have had to hear that sick man lie on the stand. I was grateful to not have to witness the girl break down as she recalled what he did to her. Later that day, that is what happened. It makes me sick to think of grown adults taking the innocence away from a child. A little girl. Somebody's daughter. I could not stop thinking about it. I only hoped that the panel of jurors saw the obvious and convicted that man. Turns out, they did. He will go to prison and he will get everything he deserves for what he did to that CHILD. Thank you, jury.
1 comment:
the EXACT SAME thing happened to me. he was a quiet, unassuming man, who looked very meek. i have two children, and am a children's librarian, and i honestly didn't know what to do. lucky, i was close to the last, was not called. he was convicted after his victim testified. she was young when it happened, but at th time of the trial was at the age they put her on the stand.
i went home, cried a little, hugged my kiddos, and prayed that He held them in his hands. and then we turned the music up, made a happy dance,then went for ice cream.
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