Jury Duty (Sexual Assult on a Child)

let's not forget that jumping to conclusions and prejudice has led to MANY innocent men being imprisoned and even executed for crimes they didn't commit, probably by juries that were more anxious to 'put the bad guy away' than actually give a fair trial.

Thanks, I had not really thought of it that way. I really appreciate that sentiment.

You're welcome and I stand by what I said. It wasn't just a platitude.

I have served as a juror numerous times and yet this post brings up many thoughts for me and great inner turmoil. I have some education in law so my personal thought is to weigh the evidence and proceed accordingly.

I would certainly hope that I would be able in a situation such this to be able to stick to my guns and make the legal system do what it is indeed supposed to do.

There are many "walking wounded" out there. The only thing I can say is that I would agree that if this is a case that one does not have the stomach to handle then indeed they should not. Walking into a jury box with a preconcieved opinion from past edefeats the whole idea. The idea is a fair trial for the accused and a fair shake for the victim.

The sad reality is that no matter how hard we try it goes wrong. Personally, I think I would have more problems if the case involved the rape and then the death of the child. It would be a far more difficult trial and far more gruesome to deal with if the victim were not there to testify and one would have to go on other evidence.

I have great hopes that this kind of trial is one I do not encounter in my lifetime.

I have served on a variety of juries over the last 25 years and one of the cases involved the abuse of a young boy by a foster parent. I was horrified at first and decided that I wanted off of the jury because I could not bear hearing the details and witnessing the child's recounting of the story. The lawyers began the voir dire process and eliminated any parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts from the jury pool. I was a single male without godchildren, nieces or nephews so I was chosen as a juror. The case was heard for four days and ended in a hung jury due to one juror's refusal to believe the young boy. She stated in the jury room to us 11 that young boys are notorious liars and he was probably angry at the foster parent for being forced to do chores. I could have strangled the juror as it was apparent that the child was terrified of the defendant, and the remaining 11 had no doubt of the defendant's guilt. The case was retried and the accused was found guilty. This case was tried in 1989 in Los Angeles and I still remember all of the details quite clearly. I do not want to serve on another child abuse case ever again. So, Tim, I completely understand why you asked to be excused from the case.

That's sickening. For your sake, if you are ever falsely accused, I hope that your jury doesn't have anyone like you on it.

Believe me, I'm not trying to downplay the seriousness of child predation. True predators should be exterminated. But they should not be convicted and sentenced before a trial. I have no idea at all about the actual or reported statistics on false accusations, but I know they are out there. If you decide someone is guilty, simply because he has been accused, you are more of a monster than any predator.