The Whitness

I’ve seen a lot of traffic on the site lately, but it looks like only a small portion of people have read about the verdict. Just to be clear, it’s right over here –>, under “Pages.”

Finally we can break our silence. The 12 of us are in an exclusive club, and for the past two weeks we’ve been hearing things that beg and plead for discussion. Yet up until now we were strictly forbidden from uttering a word to anyone about what we’ve heard in the courtroom. The wait was almost over.

It was Thursday afternoon before Thanksgiving week and I can tell you all of us were hoping deliberations wouldn’t last beyond the end of the next day. Still, until we got into the jury room and started talking, it was hard to tell how long it would take to reach a verdict.

It was interesting to get into the room and sit around the table and really look all the other jurors in the face for the first time. We also re-introduced ourselves and made little name tents so we would know who we were talking to. They were all faces we knew well, but I only knew one or two of their names.

Foreperson Selected – I won’t lie; I think I would make a good foreman. However, as soon as we got into the room, one woman asked “does the foreperson get to read the verdict? If so, I’d like to do it. I’d just like to be able to say that I read the verdict.” The belief in the room was that the foreperson did read the verdict and a couple of people said they had no problem with this woman serving as foreperson. So without much of a formal vote, she was selected. In retrospect I have one piece of advice should you ever need to select a foreperson – do not select someone whom you know likes to talk. Select someone who likes to listen. This woman had to state her opinion after everyone spoke, and really looked for every opportunity possible to talk rather than keep order among the group.

Approaching the Verdict – While there was so much to talk about, we quickly agreed that the first thing we should discuss was her alibi. If we believed her alibi, then there was no reason to discuss the individual charges against her since she couldn’t have even been at the scene on the night of the incident. We went around the room and each person said whether they believed the alibi or not. When this initial vote was done, the count was 10 to 2.

No Spoiler – If I tell you any more here, I’ll start to give away the verdict. In case anyone is reading this retrospectively, I’m not going to put the rest of the story and the verdict on this page. If you want to read all the posts that make up the back story before you get to the verdict, just click on “jury duty” on the right hand column under Categories. If you’re ready to hear the rest of the story, click on “The Verdict” on the right under Pages.

Next Post: The only remaining part of my story of jury duty will show up soon on the right hand column under “pages.” Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I’ll continue to post various B.S. about what’s going on in my life, so check back once in a while if you want to know what’s up with me. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

I’m almost done with my tale of jury duty. I know I have a few people who actually read this. Given what you’ve read so far, what do you think? And if you feel inclined to comment on your answer, please don’t hold back.

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