I was a Federal Criminal Court juror for a case involving prostitution, drugs, assault, and a weapon. I wasn't allowed to discuss the case with anyone and thought it best to not even mention that's what I was doing. However, the case is over as of last Friday so my secrecy has been lifted. This is what I learned by being a juror.
Perspective
The #1 thing I walked out of this experience learning is perspective. I only got a small glimpse into the lives of others during last week's trial, but it was enough for me to understand a few things. I've seen crime dramas on tv. I've watched Cops and other shows like it. But it's never been more real to hear about other people's lives than this past week has been. The things that these people went through (both the witnesses and defendant) were heartbreaking. It was emotionally exhausting hearing all of these unbelievably sad stories. I learned that I need to appreciate my life more. I learned that what I've gone through in life pales in comparison to lives like those I heard about. As each of the people were talking, it was difficult to hold back tears. I wanted to go up and give each of them a hug. And even though the defendant committed some awful things, I still felt empathy for him. I too wanted to give him a hug because of the awful things in the defendant's life. I could see a string of bad decisions led us to where we were in the court room by the defendant and the witnesses. The whole situation was sad. I gained perspective that my life up to now has been pretty easy. I've learned from this brief experience that I should appreciate my life more.
Media
I've never experienced media slant in my life. I've heard of it, but never experienced it. I have now. After the trial was over, I lifted the ban on outside information and read the newspaper articles from before and after the trial.
Pre-Trial (Local Newspaper)
Post-Trial (Local Newspaper)
Post-Trial (TV News)
Post-Trial (3rd party)
Post-Trial (Government)
I won't go into details. But needless to say, this is not all of the information. A reasonable person would read these things and immediately think to themselves why did it take 10 hours for the jury to reach a verdict. Because it wasn't that easy.
Court System
One of the things the judge said to us during the jury selection process was "Wouldn't you want someone like you to serve on a jury if you were on trial for something?" This was in reference to imploring the potential jurors to not try to deselect themselves based on their circumstances. As potential jurors, we should want to be on the jury trial because we would want someone like us if we were in the defendants place. But that begs a very big question. How is one selected to appear for the jury selection process? Well for federal court, it's whether you voted in the presidential election. And for state court, it's whether you have a driver's license (in WI case that is). I wasn't aware of this until after the jury deliberation had started (however this was never raised in the deliberations, but merely a conversation about the system in general). Who are the least likely to vote or have a driver's license? Typically the poor and disenfranchised (I think someone who committed a felony loses the right to vote for a period of time). So to me, the system seems rigged against those groups of people when selecting a jury "like them". Or to put it another way, can we consider the jury a "slice of society" when it knowingly is more likely missing a group of people more often. Seems like there should be a better way to select potential jurors (what about social security numbers?).
Also. what's the difference between a state crime and a federal crime? Well in this case, it was effecting (even in a minor way) interstate commerce. You know what counts as interstate commerce? These days pretty much anything.
Your phone carrier is from a different state - interstate commerce
Your car is from a different state - interstate commerce
The website you use is from a different state - interstate commerce
The hotel you stayed at is headquartered in a different state - interstate commerce
In today's society almost everything we interact with is interstate commerce. I'd be shocked based on these grounds that almost anything couldn't be charged in federal court if they wanted to. With it being a federal crime instead of a state crime, it carries with it different sentencing guidelines (found out after trial was over).
My role
Once the trial went to jury deliberation we were tasked with finding the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence presented in the court room. When we entered that room, the defendant was innocent and the evidence needed to prove otherwise. I immediately volunteered my services as jury foreman (or leader of the group). I did this for two reasons:
1) I wanted to make sure we took a VERY deliberative and analytical process in determining our verdict. I wanted to make sure we analyzed every word, sentence, and circumstance of the charges against the defendant to make sure we could prove every necessary piece of information. This frustrated some, but from my perspective was a necessary step to ensure things were done correctly.
2) I wanted to make sure that ONLY relevant things were discussed during the deliberations. Discussion about things that were struck from the record, or issues of personal characteristics, or things that just weren't appropriate, I just wasn't going to have any of it. I ONLY wanted to hear the facts and anytime anyone tried to steer the discussion otherwise, I made sure we stayed on task. I wanted our verdict to be based on facts, not emotions. Given the nature of the crimes involved, in my perspective, this was VERY difficult for some of the other jurors.
But this is a running journal
The trial upset my normal running rhythm. I run at the same time of day. I eat the same foods. I go to sleep around the same time every night. All of these things were thrown off because of this added event in my life. It made the runs more difficult. My diet was off. My sleep schedule was off. My natural rhythm to my running week was off. But, it occurred to me very early in the week. Again, it's about perspective. I'm doing something I love. I get to have this block of time in my life to get to do something like running. Yes, it was hard to run, hard to find time to do it, I was tired, and definitely lacking on my nutrition, but the runs felt different because of what I heard in other's lives. I've gained a new appreciation for my hobby of running.
That's all. I appreciate the well wishes and other statements. I wanted to be less vague and let you all know nothing bad happened, but I felt it best not to elaborate until after the trial was over. As always, thanks for reading.