Trial over. 3 Weeks on a rape case.

[HardDrive]

Do not read this if you are having a bad day. Theres nothing graphic, but its not pleasant.

3 weeks ago, I was selected as a juror in a rape case.

It had been my intent to post a story about my experience and the story of the case when the trial completed. But thats not going to happen. No one needs to hear the story. We pay police and prosecutors so that we the public don't need to hear these stories ourselves.

Yesterday, we convicted the acccused of 3 felony counts. His attorney, standing in the hallway with the defendants parents took the time to lash out at us as we left. "Do you know he is going to get 10 years to life?!?!"

You want to hate this guy. But this is not some boogyman that jumped out of bushes. This guy worked, was by all accounts a good second father to children that were not his. He's not a person you would feel uncomfortable having a beer with. But somewhere in his programming, somewhere along the way, he just failed to learn where the limits are. When he became angry, there were simply no brakes. He simply did unspeakable things when he was angry.

His mother and father sat behind him the entire trial. They were there when the verdicts were read.

Everyone has a mother. Most mothers have hopes and dreams for their children. And there she sat as we sent her son away, a convicted violent felon for life.

I drove home in new Mercedes, the car that I had picked up that very morning. I sobbed on the way home. I have spent today with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.

We did our job. I don't have a scrap of doubt in my mind as to his guilt. It was nice to hear afterwards that he priors.

But there are no winners. The destructions that was left behind...its upspeakable. I cannot bring my self to write of it.

I would like to say that this was satisfying experience. On some level it was. The police, prosecutors, judge, medical professionals....they were all amazingly compotent. It was nice to see my tax dollars at work with such quality people.

But I'm gutted. I'm nervous. I feel like someone kicked me in the stomach. I am overwhelmed with how lucky I am been in the cards life has dealt me. It pays in life if you make good decisions. But there is always a factor of luck there, and I think we all know that ones life can be changed in an instant.

I BSed myself that I was 'just doing my job', and that I wasn't taking it on board. But the voices of the victims children.......

I'm going to head for the bathroom now so my 4 year old doesn't see me crying.....

[Dueller]

As a trial lawyer, let me say thank you for doing your civic duty for our judicial system. Flawed as it may be, there is none better.

[Racerbvd]

You did what you had to do, now go give your wife & 4 year old a great big hug, sign off & spend the evening with them.

[Seahawk]

My Sister is a Prosecutor. I can't even listen to her stories because I don't want to know.

In an instant indeed. I wish I had some advice.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

good job, great country.

[KaptKaos]

The right thing to do is not always easy. Thanks for doing your duty.

[Jeff Higgins]

Hang in there, bud. And thanks for taking on a very tough, undesirable responsibility.

Those guys are out there. Whether we see them or not, whether we catch them or not. I think we all realize that at some subconscious, or way in the back of our minds level. It just has to be tough to have to see them, and the destruction they cause, at such an intimate level. It must feel like you "got some of it on you". Hug your family and tell them you love them; that will start to wash it off. What you did is a part of how we ensure this kind of thing never touches them; you did it for them. And us. Thank you.

[mikester]

I suppose you could consider yourself another victim of this guy's actions.

Probably doesn't make it better but hopefully he won't hurt anyone else.

[vash]

no winners? yes there are. the next victims, if this predator wasnt put away. hey, it isnt easy to determine someones fate, but i am glad people did there jobs, correctly, and by the book. it is how it is supposed to happen. i dont know, or need to know the details, but you can bet the rape victim got the worst of it.
no regrets, friend.

[LakeCleElum]

HD - Thax for doing your duty. Just a wild guess here: The victim was not a stranger to him, right?

The only reason I ask, the majority of the public have this perception that rape victims are strangers to some suspect that jumps out of the bushes. In fact, over 98% of the rape cases do not occur this way....

[cgarr]

I don't believe our circumstances in life are just luck, (cards dealt in life) or we are just lucky to have not gotten in these situations, I don't know what you believe, but I have always believed that our lives are not predetermined, our creator has given us one of the greatest gifts, thats our free will, to do good or not, thats what makes us human unlike anything else ever. We were also given another great gift of forgiveness.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by vash

no winners? yes there are. the next victims, if this predator wasnt put away. hey, it isnt easy to determine someones fate, but i am glad people did there jobs, correctly, and by the book. it is how it is supposed to happen. i dont know, or need to know the details, but you can bet the rape victim got the worst of it.
no regrets, friend.

Exactly. While it may have drained you, think of what it would have done should he have been released to do this again and again to others in the area.

Thanks for doing a job that many avoid. I have been called 3 times, gotten to the courthouse 2 times and both did not go to trial so no jury needed. Its our duty to do what you did and thanks.

Joe

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Thank you for doing the right thing.

The world needs less violent criminals on the street and the important thing to remember is that YOU did not do this to him. He did it to himself.

I'll lift one for you tonight. Your actions are honorable and you have no reason whatsoever to be ashamed or upset over it.

[Hendog]

I also served as juror last year in a rape case. We found the defendant guilty as well. He was a new immigrant with a different set of values with regards to women. I didn't feel the same level of compassion for him and his actions. He learned a hard lesson. I never did find out what kind of sentence he received. It is a sobering experience and carries great responsibility (being a juror, that is).

Take Care HardDrive.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Hendog

I never did find out what kind of sentence he received.

Does not really matter what the sentence for the man was, it will not be as long as the woman he raped.

She will live with that experience for the rest of her life...

[ikarcuaso]

Including deliberation, I spent nearly a month on a murder/kidnapping ten years ago. Your post took me back. I know what you're experiencing. Time will pass, and you'll feel better. But like me, the experience will stay with you, and you'll likely draw from it from time to time. Hats off to you for committing yourself to the process and doing your best.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Dueller

As a trial lawyer, let me say thank you for doing your civic duty for our judicial system. Flawed as it may be, there is none better.

What a load of BS.

Want to know what i think?

-DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU ARE A LAWYER OR JUDGE AND DON'T WANT TO BE HIGHLY OFFENDED: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED-

This is what i think...

I think our legal system sucks balls. I think that 3 Drunken blind men with a magic 8 ball and an ounce of weed could do a better job of dispensing justice than the shills, shiesters, and sheer incompetents that inhabit and execute our civil and criminal "justice" systems.

This applies ESPECIALLY to the filthy, unethical, unscrupulous, money hungry trial lawyers. And the prosecutors. And the Judges. And the utterly uncaring civil 'servants' that administer all the records, etc. Maybe the Baliffs and stenographers are ok, but everyone else is either corrupt, incompetent, apathetic, or self interested.

Every day in the US WAY, WAY TOO MANY innocents are put away, and criminals who are guilty as sin get off, or are released way before their proscribed sentence, or sometimes just get cut loose by accident.

I am quite confident that vigilante justice would be a superior system to the stupidity we call "American Justice", which the legal profession has so perverted into such an utterly unmitigated disaster.

And don't even get me started on showboating prosecutors like that scumbag Nifong.

Whoever it was that said shoot the lawyers first should have followed his own advice.

That's what i think

[Sonic dB]

wow... go try living in Iran or China then...maybe more agreeable system for you?

nothing is perfect but our system was designed to be as good as it could be... i blame the
politicians for screwing it up more that i do the design of the system itself.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Sonic dB

wow... go try living in Iran or China then...

Because our justice system is totally screwed up i should live in an islamic nightmare or a communist state?

From wiki:

"The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate[1] and total documented prison population in the world[2]. As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole. More than 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated at the start of 2008.[3]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_the_United_States

You been drinking the "US is great" KooLAiD for far too long bro. You live in a police state. And an incompetent and totally corrupt one at that. Maybe we should move to China, we'd be statistically far, far less likely to get "pinched by the man."

The sickening feeling hard drive describes doesn't REALLY take hold til you look at the larger picture as a whole. The reality of it is what he saw times 7 million.

If you do nothing else, just ask yourself why a communist police state with a population well in excess of 1.2 billion people has a smaller prison population than the United States. (the PRC claims 1.1 million, HR activists claim it is actually closer to the 7 million of the US, but even still the per 100,000 rate would still be many times lower than our own)

More from wiki:

"In recent decades the U.S. has experienced a surge in its prison population, quadrupling since 1980, partially as a result of mandated sentences that came about during the "war on drugs" and despite the decline in violent crime and property crime since the early 1990s[5]."

In 2005, about 1 out of every 136 U.S. residents was incarcerated either in prison or jail.
It is estimated that currently 27% of federal prison inmates are "criminal aliens", noncitizens convicted of crimes while in this country...
The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world at 737 persons imprisoned per 100,000

---------

Brother Pelicans, these are some PROFOUND statistics. Make you feel any better Hard drive?

Our criminal justice system is a huge flaming pile of utter failure.

[richde]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

Because our justice system is totally screwed up i should live in an islamic nightmare or a communist state?

From wiki:

"The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate[1] and total documented prison population in the world[2]. As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole. More than 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated at the start of 2008.[3]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_the_United_States

You been drinking the "US is great" KooLAiD for far too long bro. You live in a police state. And an incompetent and totally corrupt one at that. Maybe we should move to China, we'd be statistically far, far less likely to get "pinched by the man."

The sickening feeling hard drive describes doesn't REALLY take hold til you look at the larger picture as a whole. The reality of it is what he saw times 7 million.

If you do nothing else, just ask yourself why a communist police state with a population well in excess of 1.2 billion people has a smaller prison population than the United States. (the PRC claims 1.1 million, HR activists claim it is actually closer to the 7 million of the US, but even still the per 100,000 rate would still be many times lower than our own)

More from wiki:

"In recent decades the U.S. has experienced a surge in its prison population, quadrupling since 1980, partially as a result of mandated sentences that came about during the "war on drugs" and despite the decline in violent crime and property crime since the early 1990s[5]."

In 2005, about 1 out of every 136 U.S. residents was incarcerated either in prison or jail.
It is estimated that currently 27% of federal prison inmates are "criminal aliens", noncitizens convicted of crimes while in this country...
The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world at 737 persons imprisoned per 100,000

---------

Brother Pelicans, these are some PROFOUND statistics. Make you feel any better Hard drive?

Our criminal justice system is a huge flaming pile of utter failure.

The only "failure" I see is the stupidity of the offenders. Stupid criminals and an efficient legal system team up to give us these rates.

On a side note, there's a bill in congress to legalize MJ.