Note: this was originally posted to Ben Around the Block on June 18, 2014. I have made minor edits to correct grammar and preserve privacy.
(For the record, no, I have not seen Twelve Angry Men. Please stop asking me that, various friends.)
Behold: The Marion County Circuit Court! This big white building serves all of Salem’s judicial needs, and is where I run a lot of errands as part of my job. Yesterday, I got to spend all day there as opposed to the office in order to see something I had not before: an entire jury trial, from start to finish!
At around 8:30 yesterday, I met up with L [actual name redacted], one of the attorneys down at the Public Defender’s Office. He had a long day in court that day, one that I would watch entirely from the gallery. After some initial motions in which controversial evidence was admitted, the fun process of jury selection began *end sarcasm*! Out of a pool of about 25 people, only 2 were eliminated out of fear of their biases over the course of 2 lengthy questioning sessions, leaving attorneys on both sides and the judge to sort through quite a few names before arriving at a satisfactory selection of jurors. Five women and a man were chosen, giving this blog post its title. Then, after the jury had been carefully selected and instructed by the judge on what to do…we went into recess for lunch, as the selection had gone on way longer than anticipated. The real fun would start in about an hour and a half.
A quick, fun little note: the benches in the courtroom gallery are simultaneously really uncomfortable and rather sleep-inducing. The friendly clerk/bailiff/court reporter (I don’t know what her official position was, as she seemed to be fulfilling all three functions) noticed my dual predicament and helpfully offered me a solution in the form of a comfy chair from off to the side. Positioned at the end of the benches with a full view of the courtroom, I had the best seat in the (court)house. Furthermore, whenever L, the defendant, the clerk/bailiff/reporter or the defense witness wanted to enter the courtroom floor, they had to go by me and I sometimes held the little swivel door for them, making me feel like an unofficial bailiff for the rest of the day!
After we all came back from lunch (where I had grabbed some ice cream--no photos this time, though), the trial itself commenced. It was a fourth-degree assault case (and a domestic violence case, which is why I don’t feel like going too much into detail here), and a short one, to boot. The prosecution had two witnesses, both of whom were police officers. The defense also had two witnesses: the defendant himself and his old business partner. The whole thing was an amazing show of direct examination, cross-examination, objections, and fancy legal maneuvers and was everything I had hoped for!
At around 3:15, the jury heard out closing arguments from both sides and were given detailed instructions by the judge on how to deliberate. With that, the jurors sidled off into the jury room, where the next hour and a half tensely flew by. Finally, the jury returned, gave a slip of paper to the judge, who read (after what seemed like forever, given the procedure) the verdict:
NOT GUILTY
(Sadly for my inner Ace Attorney fanboy, this was not accompanied by confetti or applause. I clapped silently a little to compensate, though.)
And so, the first jury trial I have ever watched (I’ve seen bench trials before, for the record) came to a close! It was approximately 4:45, meaning that my official shift at work was long over, so I headed on home. L told me that I could tag along with any other trials in the near future. Though I want to get plenty done at the office this summer, I may certainly take him up on that offer!
Notes from THE FUTURE:
Eleven years later, I have now personally tried over thirty criminal/municipal cases. Five of them were at the Marion County Circuit Court (pictured above) when I was still in law school, and most of them have been jury trials. This initial experience set the standard for how I view trials and still holds up looking back. Most jury selections, trial motions, testimonies, and cross-examinations somewhat resemble what I first experienced back in June 2014. Given that I will soon be moving back to Salem and the realm of the Marion County Circuit Court, I have a feeling that my next trial is going to resemble this initial experience even more than usual.
I still haven't seen Twelve Angry Men. I should probably fix that one of these days.
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