A jury summons landed me at the courthouse most of the day on Tuesday. I've been called before but never for what looks to be a big case. Doesn't look like we have a judge who takes any excuse for not serving so jury selection should be interesting. Since there are indications that the prosecutor is after the death sentence, I sincerely pray I'm not on this jury because I know that I could not be part of a group that comes to a verdict of guilty and die. It would be something that would haunt me the rest of my life. I don't know how other people do it.
I always find it interesting how we are instructed that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty and the burden of guilt is on the prosecutor. Naturally, if on a jury, I would abide by that but you have to wonder how many people look at the man or woman in the defendant's position think, "Well, he/she obviously did SOMETHING to land there!" It's human nature which is what probably makes discernment even more difficult. Attorneys sure have their work cut out for themselves to get their evidence around prejudices that will want to surface in juror's minds.
The death penalty scares me! Even though a person may be on trial because they TOOK a life, I'm not sure, at all, that I could do this in turn by a guilty verdict for death. The judge instructed us to be fair but it doesn't seem fair to put the burden of coming to a penalty of death on the souls of twelve other people. Should be interesting. And I wondered where I came by my current migraine!
