Jury Duty

[Cannon88]

But did your heart tell you he was guilty?

Was there another reasonable suspect?

No on both. If there was another reasonable suspect it was not brought up. I have my ideas on who it could of been, but this case was for a particular individual who I had nothing shown to me that would make me think he did it.

[DamonH]

yeah im not saying you are an idiot. Im saying that what you did was idiotic. Just lie and get out of it. Our judicial system is a joke, police are in place to raise revenue for cities, attorneys are there to blow each other and then go to lunch together afterward while you're life is up in the air, and judges are simply looking in the past at previous interpretations of the law by those before him and attempt to apply a constitution that is often outdated for said cases. Ftp and ftjs (judical system)

On the one hand I want to ask how exactly you think it will work at all if everyone had your attitude, but on the other you are probably the last person I'd want on the jury if I was ever falsely accused of a crime or something. It seems you have no sense of the bigger picture.

Yeah, you are right. I am an idiot for not lying to get out of it. I really didn't mind. Hell, I am 31 years old and this is the first time I have ever been summoned, not really a big deal or a big inconvenience to me. I found it very interesting. They pay $6 for the first day, and $40 per day after that. So, I got $86 for doing something I had to do. I will take it. Being salary and not getting docked is just an added bonus.

My thoughts exactly. I was summoned two weeks ago for a criminal case, but the defendant plead out before the jury was selected.

[Kenny_Stang]

I was selected on a jury for a child molestation case... the day the trial was to start they plead out, and we didn't actually go through the entire process.

It was emotionally draining though, just in what they were able to discuss in the jury picking portion, it was going to be one of those cases where you would be very emotionally involved. When the Judge called us back in to announce that the case had been plead out, she was crying... so I can imagine how difficult it was.

Overall it was a good experience, I would do it again. I think it's our civic duty to be part of the judicial system.

[Jimbo]

But did your heart tell you he was guilty?

Was there another reasonable suspect?

I hope we don't arrest and convict people on what "your heart" says, regardless of any other option.
Better be able to prove it as far as I'm concerned.

[Jimbo]

yeah im not saying you are an idiot. Im saying that what you did was idiotic. Just lie and get out of it. Our judicial system is a joke, police are in place to raise revenue for cities, attorneys are there to blow each other and then go to lunch together afterward while you're life is up in the air, and judges are simply looking in the past at previous interpretations of the law by those before him and attempt to apply a constitution that is often outdated for said cases. Ftp and ftjs (judical system)

Fucking ridiculous.

[Jimbo]

You're the kind of person that I love to be on the jury in one of my trials. You actually grasp the concept that you have a "civic duty" in society and aren't just running through life trying to find the what will help only you.

I completely agree.

[Jimbo]

For some reason you never get picked being a cop....WTF is that.... Everyone is GUILTY!!!

lol, awesome.

[Cannon88]

I hope we don't arrest and convict people on what "your heart" says, regardless of any other option.
Better be able to prove it as far as I'm concerned.

Exactly. The burden of proof is on the prosecutors/state, and they failed to prove to me/us that the defendant was guilty. That is what the entire system is based on, "innocent until PROVEN guilty."

[Cooter]

I don't think Matt was implying anything like that... more of a curiosity thing...

[BUFFALOHALTOM]

You sir, have absolutely no clue how the legal system works based on all of that trash.

YEAH RIGHT. SELL THAT SHIT TO SOMEONE ELSE. LOOK IM not going to change your opinion and you wont change mind so best we move on and leave it at that

[BUFFALOHALTOM]

On the one hand I want to ask how exactly you think it will work at all if everyone had your attitude, but on the other you are probably the last person I'd want on the jury if I was ever falsely accused of a crime or something. It seems you have no sense of the bigger picture.



My thoughts exactly. I was summoned two weeks ago for a criminal case, but the defendant plead out before the jury was selected.

i agree its a neccessary evil. i mean i dont have a better solution so i guess this one has to stick but i dont want any part of it. i dont have a record or anything, never been in trouble, and hopefully wont so that it stays that way and i dont end up on the other side of it

[BUFFALOHALTOM]

Fucking ridiculous.

look the the three points i made are legit.

1. police primarily provide revenue to cities in the form of moving violations. when it comes to real crime surely some of you have experienced "cops not being there when you really needed them" after they have showed up and told you they can take a report but there isnt much they can do

2. attorney's fratinize with each other, make deals and do favors: "make a plea deal for me here, and i'll yada yada yada there, go to lunch together, even date. kinda messed up when they should be going to war against each other to find for their defendant or who ever

3. google how judges take previous decisions and judgements and pass them on down the line, case after case. or look into others opinions of rather or not the consitition(im refering to texas' not the u.s.) needs to be rewritten or not. then call it ridiculous

[Cannon88]

Here is the article about the case.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/02/2674480/teen-acquitted-of-shooting-disabled.html

Teen acquitted of shooting disabled man in east Fort Worth

FORT WORTH _ A Fort Worth teen has been acquitted of fatally shooting a wheelchair-bound man last year as they argued over a drug deal.

A Tarrant County jury deliberated more than four hours Wednesday before acquitting Kelvin Eugene Williams Jr. of the Nov. 19, 2009 murder of 45-year-old Earl Howery, who was found slumped in a wheelchair in his east Fort Worth apartment. Williams, now 19, faced life in prison if convicted.

The two sides agreed that the trial outcome may have hinged on the lack of physical evidence and eyewitnesses linking Williams to Howery's death.

Emergency personnel called to the scene by a niece who found Howery's body initially speculated that the disabled man had a heart attack and fell forward, hitting his head on a door jamb. Howery lost most of the use of his legs after he was bitten by a brown recluse spider.

Homicide detectives were summoned after a medical examiner investigator found a small hole in the back of Howery's head, according to testimony during the two-day trial in Criminal District Court No. 1. Howery was killed by a single .38 caliber bullet, Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani testified.

Defense attorney Terry Barlow argued that police never found a gun, bullets, fingerprints and other physical evidence linking Williams to the murder _ a point conceded by prosecutor Tamla Ray. State witnesses were discredited by their multiple versions of events, Barlow said.

Billy Baston testified that he witnessed a violent argument between Williams and Howery over a drug deal, an argument that escalated as he entered the apartment.

After Howery threatened Williams with a knife, he said, Williams threatened Howery with a gun. Seconds after he left the apartment, Baston said he heard a gunshot. He said he crouched in a breezeway until he saw Williams leave and get into a car with two young women.

The women said they picked Williams up several blocks from the apartment complex hours after Baston said Williams had left the apartment. They admitted that they first told police they had picked him up just outside the complex.

Police said Baston also changed his story several times _ first naming a friend as an alibi; then, when the friend refused to confirm the alibi, admitting that he had been at the apartment but did not kill Howery.

Barlow contended that Baston had more of a motive to kill Howery than Williams did. Baston acknowledged that he planned to confront Howery about a fake $20 bill Howery had given him.

Another man testified that Williams was "shook up" when he told him several days after Howery's death that he shot a guy in the head. The man said he didn't go to police immediately because he didn't want to be a snitch.

But Barlow said that man's testimony was suspect because he admitted to Judge Sharen Wilson and jurors that he had smoked marijuana the night before he appeared in court.

Martha Deller, 817-390-7857

[Gear_Jammer]

YEAH RIGHT. SELL THAT SHIT TO SOMEONE ELSE. LOOK IM not going to change your opinion and you wont change mind so best we move on and leave it at that

Considering I've been an attorney for over 10 years and have countless hearings and numerous trials under my belt, I think the odds are that I know far more than you ever will about the judicial system in Texas. The statements you made above are severely flawed and inaccurate. Sounds like you're afraid to debate this topic with me, so feel free to run away!

[03trubluGT]

I hope we don't arrest and convict people on what "your heart" says, regardless of any other option.
Better be able to prove it as far as I'm concerned.

Yea, since that OJ thing worked out so well.