innocent until proven guilty

I am very aware that I am not allowed to
talk about certain details of the criminal case I took part in. Luckily though I can share a bit of my experience...
just for the record.
Jury selection day was intense.
 Then there's a delayed realization
that you are "Juror #9".
And before it has time to fully sink in,
you are sitting before a "victim"
and hearing every little detail of some
unbelievably horrible and traumatic event.
This is not easy stuff to digest...
it is far from the sweet little life that most of us live.
It is easy to feel empathetic and immediately want to put
the criminal away...
but then others add to the evidence,
and you hear another side...
and after 6 days of testimony
12 people, from all different life experiences
are forced to spend whatever time it takes
to reach a unanimous decision.
It took us 17 hours...
2 nights away from home.
No contact with the outside world.
No phone.
No computer.
No radio.
No newspaper.
No tv.
Guarded every minute.
It is unsettling to say the least,
but I would do it again.
We were a great team.
The amount of respect shown for each other
was such a gift.
I have made new friends...
bonded over an experience that you wouldn't understand
unless you've gone through it.
We had to trust each other
and ask for help to understand things
that none of us could imagine to be true.
We had to be patient and calm.
In the end I believe that the system worked for us.


A man was given a fair trial,
we found him not guilty
and he looked right at me and said thank you.
I hope he understands that we put the time in...
we worked tediously through the process,
bit by bit,
until we all understood
that he was innocent until
proven guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt.


I'm so glad to be home.
xox