Day 222 - Not Guilty

Jury duty day 2 - my first deliberation

Our case in a nutshell:

2 stolen minivans (one in 2007 and one in 2008)
Both gold-colored Town & Country's
DNA evidence on items in each van matched the defendant
No proof of defendant actually on vans
Both vans recovered near defendant's home (one within a block and one within a mile)
Defendant took stand - told us about prostitutes & drugs
Defendant admitted to changing the tire on one of the vans (or at least a van like it)

After about a day and a half of listening to testimonies, DNA experts, the officers & detectives who recovered the vehicles and the defense it was time for the jury to deliberate.

This process was interesting to me, especially to see how every one's personalities came out. There were of course a couple of people that seemed to just be talking to hear their own voice and were making no sense . . . but after about 1.5 hours we agreed on our verdict

NOT GUILTY

Sure, this guy has clearly done some bad things in his life and I wouldn't put it past him to be guilty of some pretty horrible crimes, but the prosecution couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this case was one he had done.

After the case wrapped up the judge and lawyers came back to visit with us a bit and we got to ask a few questions about the case and they also got to get our feed back.

Jury duty was interesting. I am actually glad to have been selected, but also very happy that our trial only went on for 2 days.