I Can Now Speak

My jury duty has ended and I can now talk about the case. I do not intend to give specifics, I am allowed to; but, I am more interested in discussing the experience than the actual case. I was never one of the jurors who deliberated and was not involved in the final decision, I was an alternate and that was as far as it went.

I want to start by saying that I felt that the jurors were very committed to doing the right thing as they saw fit. I was very impressed by the caliber of people that I met and was so pleased at how friendly everybody was. As I did not deliberate, I had no idea what was going on and sat all by myself for two days. I truly felt left out, as if I couldn't be with them. When they did see me they kind enough to make me feel part of it, friends, if just for a moment.

The case was pretty serious, it even involved street gangs. Young men who have chosen paths that often lead to jail. Certain paths should not be followed as no good can ever come of them.

I felt a great honor to be on a jury even if I was only an alternate. I am also glad that I did not have to decide the case. It is a very heavy burden to have to make decisions that will so greatly impact others lives. In business I do it all the time; but, somehow that seems different. In business I am a participant and not an observer, an advocate.

I cannot say if I agree or disagree with the juries decision, I did not get to hear the questions and answers that the jury asked each other, my thoughts on the decision were never questioned nor stated so I don't know what my final decision may have been. I do know that those who did decide took it very seriously and I believe they did their job. I am going to think about all of what I saw over the next few weeks and as things occur to me, I will write about it, I will not give names of anyone, not now and not later, I am bad with names anyways.