Thursday, May 18, 2006

Lady Jan was the fifth Juror!

It's over now! Thank God! And now I can talk about it! Yay!

It was a domestic battery case, and the woman who had been beaten didn't even show up! And that threw the prosecutions case, as there was no eyewitnesses to the abuse.

Thank God the Officer that had been called had the forethought to take pictures, or there may have been no case at all. The pictures were a little hard to look at, she (the victim)had huge black eyes; that were presumably caused by being headbutted by the defendant, and that was the earlier injury, and some other bruising on her chest as well. The bruising on both of her forearms were the freshest injury at that time, and presumably cased by a wrestling match with the defendant over the remote control.

There was two charges against the defendant and we couldn't get the worst one--the felony charge on him, because there was some doubt, because it was older injuries. And there was some testimony by the defendant's parents, and a last minuet detective hired by the defense attorney that the bruising was caused by her(the victim's) jealousy over his(the defendant) affair with some woman presumably named Annette. And a fight with this other woman ensued. The lawyer for the defense, a real sleazy looking fellow(and drama Queen), wanted us to believe that this fight was what caused all the bruising. But that other woman Annette was never called as a witness, so I am inclined to believe that she's the figment of someone's imagination.


And with the photos it was clear to all of us, that the bruising had to be a week apart.

I think she(the victim) didn't appear because of buyers remorse--She just didn't buy into this much trouble. I just wish she had the guts to appear in court.

So even with the photos we were only able to agree on the lesser charge of assault which was a misdemeanor for the wrestling match.

Then our Foreman (woman) gave the judge our verdict, and just before we were dismissed we were given permission from the judge to talk about the case now that it was all over.

It was such a relief for us to talk about it that we were discussing it openly out by the shuttle pick-up area. Then the defendant's parents walked by and we shut-up real quick! And they (the parents)then stuck their noses in the air as they paraded by. One of our now former juror said, "Well! They should be glad we didn't get him for everything, and be happy we just got him for the lesser charge!" I had to agree.

Before that we were just relieved we could get him on one charge--the lesser charge. But the real bummer was that our Juror Foreman's (woman's) mother was a batter woman. Our Juror Foreman was a real good Foreman(woman) and didn't let her emotions get in the way, and was real good about reading the instructions to us, and making us use our logic too. But after it was over with that she admitted that she felt terrible, that the one misdementor guilty charge was all he was going to get. But as one of our fellow jurors pointed out to her and all of us, that since he is on probation--it's an automatic trip back to the big house for him.


10 comments:

Granny said...

And you've done your civic duty for a while. What a relief that must be.

megz_mum said...

Ditto granny! Bet you are glad it is over!

Merle said...

Hi Janice ~~ I bet you are glad that that is over. The poor woman. I hope he can't hurt her any more.
Glad you enjoyed the visit to my site.
Take care, Merle.

ipodmomma said...

that was really intense! but you did a good job, and that is what matters most...

I'm quite squeamish... don't know if I would have been able to take the photos...

I love jasmine tea!!! :))))

Madcap said...

What tangled, mangled lives some people lead. I'm glad something came of it, though, since everyone went to all that trouble.

Sarah Elaine said...

I echo the comments above... Intense and nerve-wracking,no doubt. I bet you'll never forget this one.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Ann & Megz_mum,

Oh yes! I am so glad it's all over! And I can proudly say that indeed I did my civic duty. The judge said a few times a year we have the privilege to to our civic duty; when we vote, when we are called to serve on jury duty and of course when we pay our taxes. And yes I aways do all three, but this time I actually did served on a jury!

So I guess that means I'm civic minded!

Hi Merle,

As long as he is incarcerated, he can't lay a finger on her. It's when he gets put I'm worried about.

Hi Molly,

Thank you!

The pictures were kinda hard to look at, but I managed it. But I had to put my emotions away for a time.

Love that Jasmine tea!

Hi Madcap,

I know! I wonder how some people manage to get themselves in such messes in the first place!

Well, yeah it was a lot of trouble, and the shuttle was a pain too. I had to drive two miles from my home to the shuttle stop, then wait around till it showed, then go through the metal detectors at the court house and all that took a half an hour. Luckily I had an hour and a half for lunch or I'd never had made it home to let my elderly dog out to go poo. But I did managed to get there on time, and do my civic duty.

Hi Sarah,

Oh yeah it was!

And your right I'll never for get it!

Ever!

Thank you all for your comments,
Your Lady Jan~

Janice Seagraves said...

P.S.

I forgot to mention this, but we heard testimony at the trial that the victem is back together with the defendent.

So all this might have been for nothing!

Tina said...

Well, Janice, I hope someday you get assigned to the jury of a celebrity trial, because you could write one hell of a tell-all book!

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Tina,

I appreciate that! Especially since I had yet another one of my stories turned down by a magizine.

Lady Jan~