First, let me say that my jury service is complete, so there is no prohibition against my discussing my service as a juror. Second, I apologize if I leave things out or am unclear so feel free to ask questions.
I am stressed out. I just finished a trial in which I was one of the jurors. The case was an alleged rape of a thirteen year old child by a 39 year old man. We have rendered our verdict and I feel sick about the choices we had to make and I hope I did the right thing. I will outline the case as briefly as I can.
The case centered on a very extended family living in a three bedroom rowhouse in one of the roughest sections in Washington DC. Living in the house were a mother, her six children ages 1 to 13, a grandfather, an uncle and an unrelated unmarried couple living in the basement with an infant. The house was clearly unkempt and uncared for as were the children.
The defendant was accused of accosting the thirteen year old girl at four in the afternoon in the kitchen and taking her down the stairs into the basement and raping her. The rape was allegedly intterupted by the defendant’s girlfriend who caught him in the act and started beating on him. She then found her friend, had the child tell the friend what happened, they went to the mother and the child told the story again. They then called the police who arrived and arrested the defendant. The child was examined at a children’s hospital and no physical evidence was found.
Those are the basic facts as laid out by the prosecution. When they laid out the state’s case it seemed fairly open and shut. I am generally inclined to believe women of any age who allege sexual assault. It sickens me to think an adult could do this to a child and I wish nothing but the worst for any adult who preys on a child. The case was further strengthened by an eyewitness to the rape in progress.
There were problems with the state’s case that came out during the trial. The victim testified and did so bravely. She was however, clearly developmentally disabled. She had a demeanor of a seven year old and a tenuous grasp on the proceedings of the court. Her version of the assault used words she didn’t understand. She used words like penis and vagina that she couldn’t define in any way when questioned. She could not differentiate between the truth and a lie even when given examples and asked to choose which statement was true and which was not. She also identified the defendant’s girlfriend as the only one she had ever talked to about what happened. She said she would do anything the defendant’s girlfriend asked her to.
The defendant’s girlfriend, the alleged eyewitness to the rape was the lynchpin for the state. She was, not to be overly harsh, a psychotic crack whore. She freely admitted that she viewed the child as a rival for her boyfriend’s affection without any evidence. She claimed the victim had sex many times with older men and was after her boyfriend. This despite the fact that it was stipulated that the victim was a virgin. She blamed the thirteen year old victim for taking away her boyfriend. She freely admitted that she had ‘added’ testimony in front of the grand jury to make the story sound better. She also admitted that the defendant had broken up with her that morning and this was the last day she could continue to live in the house. She admitted to being severely depressed and smoking crack. She had numerous convictions for crimes from fraud to cocaine distribution to lying to a police officer.
Aside from her ulterior motives and her state of mind, her retelling of how she came to witness the rape was so convoluted and contrived as to be completely unbelievable. In the end I don’t believe she witnessed much of anything. Given the above facts the jury was unanimous in finding the defendant not guilty of all charges. In my heart though I believe he probably did something to the child. If the psycho witness was never called to muck things up I would have voted guilty without reservation. As it is I was the most reluctant vote for not guilty. I felt he probably did rape her. I could however, envision a number of possibilities that did not involve him raping the girl.
The defendant testified and was articulate, intelligent and appeared to be superficially truthful. He claimed the child was in the basement only because he paid her five dollars to take his bag of laundry from the laundromat and to leave it in the basement. He says nothing happened. He was the only employed person in the case and the only one without criminal convictions. This doesn’t make him perfect, but it does place his credibility in contrast with that of his girlfriend.
I am having juror’s remorse. I feel like I let a predator back on the streets. When the verdict was read the judge scowled and looked distinctly unhappy with the verdict. I spoke to the prosecuting attorney after the trial and he intimated that there were things about the defendant that he couldn’t bring up in open court. I feel like shit. I wish I could have gotten a nice civil trial where I could experience the jury system without the misery of this kind of responsibility.
Has anyone else ever sat on a criminal jury? Has anyone else ever acquitted the defendant? Please feel free to share your experiences. I found it very difficult and confusing to perform a duty for which I have no training or experience. I also found the family in question to be disturbing and heartbreaking. Nobody seemed to care about this little girl and we couldn’t even put away the person who probably raped her. I am sorry for the length and angst but just felt I had to put down my thoughts.