Deliberation (Part 1)

Deliberation

As soon as the trial had begun, it was over. It was now in our hand. The 12 jurist.

The judge had ordered lunch for us, so we would not be distracted going out for lunch. He also read us our instructions which were very confusing. Typical lawyer talk.

We walked into the jury room where we had lived for the past 4 days, and were told to wait for the evidence of the trial and written instructions from the judge. We should elect a foreman.

The co-teacher at the head of the table nominated me and several people agreed. I nominated her. I also asked if anyone else wanted to be foreman. No one raised their hand. So we voted and I was elected by all 12.

I let them talk for about 30 mins. Several people had something to say. They had been holding back for 4 days and they needed to get it off their chest.

And then I stepped in as foreman. I said we need to go in logical order.
First do we all agree that Jerry Smith is dead ? YES.
Second we all agree he died from the gun shot wound to the neck ? YES.
(so far so good, everyone was agreeing and we were moving along)

Ok next, we have decide if Mr. Outlaw was there or not…and all hell broke loose.

There is no evidence he was there. No gun, no finger prints, no DNA. One shouted.

Of course he was there….everyone says he was there. Even his own cousin.

Then lunch arrived. We passed out the sandwiches and sodas and everyone calmed down.

I had 2 questions for the judge.
1. Where was the “mexican” ? in jail, not found ?
2. Could we look at the deposition of Outlaw’s cousin ?
I gave them to the bailiff, who gave it to the judge. Only the foreman can ask the judge questions. And I did not know this, but the judge has to call the court to order and read our question to the court before he can answer.

He answered that he could not answer the question about the Mexican. We have to deliberate on the evidence and testimony given in court. And no, that the deposition is NOT part of the evidence. (I asked the Bailiff later what about the Mexican. He said the Mexican was never founded.)

After lunch, I told the jurist that we had to decide who to believe the 4 witnesses or Mr. Outlaw. A few people talked and it seem like we were all in agreement that we believed the 4 witnesses.

A discussion broke out about the gun, and I tried to quiet that down until we had all agree that Mr. Outlaw was there. Also a discussion broke out about the cell phone.

Several said if the cell phone had not been there, then they could not convict.

The question came up about the phone records. Why were they NOT presented at trial ? If the defense had shown that there were no phone calls made after 12 noon when Mr. Outlaw claimed he noticed his cell phone missing, then they could not convict.

So I started another round of questions for the judge.
3. Can we get the phone records for the cell phone ?

So we started discussing the cell phone. We all agreed that that was Mr. Outlaw’s cell phone ? YES. We all agree that Mr. Outlaw’s fingerprints were found on the cell phone ? YES.

But why did they not test TJ (the driver) for DNA ? he could have planted the cell phone.

How easy is it for kids to lose their cell phones ? or someone borrow it. Did Outlaw go 12 hours on a Sat night without calling anyone on a cell phone. He claimed he called his girlfriend at work on his grandmother’s house phone. Where are the phone records for that ? If someone had borrowed Outlaw’s phone, wouldn’t they had used it. Where are JT’s (the driver) phone records ? so many questions….so little investigative work. The police and the defense attorney were sloppy here.

I called for a 10 min break when several people got a little too excited about not looking for more fingerprints on the cell phone and not having phone records. We were about to convict a kid because his attorney did not do his job.

The police had this cell phone for 10 days before anyone even bother to check out whose cell phone it was. What were the numbers that were called that night before the shooting ? I think the phone guy said they kept records for 45 days of all calls made or coming in. And texts are saved for 60 days or maybe the other way around (I do not have our notes from the trial, there were all confiscated at the end of the trial and destroyed).

After the break, I asked again. With the evidence we have in front of us, can we all say he was there ? I could not believe it, everyone said YES. That was a major accomplishment.