It was raining on the drive to the courthouse for jury duty this morning, and also on the walk to the courthouse. I didn't have an umbrella, just a jacket and a hoodie, so I kept my head down while I walked and got a bit wet. We continued our deliberation, going over the murder charge more, and ended up finishing at 10:30am. When everyone was back in the courtroom our verdict was read out loud and we each had to confirm the verdict.
Now that the case is over I can open up about some of the details. Tyler Christopher Schweizer was charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and second degree murder for killing Wallace "Pete" Shelton on February 11, 2015 when his red pickup collided with Mr. Shelton's white pickup at the intersection of Highway 273 and Thomas Road. Schweizer's defense attorney conceded the manslaughter charge in both his opening statement and his closing argument but argued that Mr. Schweizer actions did not constitute second degree murder.
I had kept an open mind throughout the entire trial. Once it ended and we entered the deliberation room I still did not have a decision in mind regarding the murder charge. We started discussing the manslaughter charge first since that one seemed much easier. We ignored the fact that the defense attorney conceded that charge, but all the evidence presented made it very clear that he was guilty.
The murder charge took much longer to decide as it had to do with his knowledge and state of mind at the time. We went through all the evidence multiple times, the witness statements, the photographs, the diagrams, and even had the testimony of the only actual eye witness to the collision read back to us. We also went over each of the points needed to prove second degree murder many times, breaking down the wording and meaning behind it, and how they applied to this case.
We had a great jury foreperson that helped make sure everything was gone through multiple times, that everyone had a chance to voice their concerns and opinions, and that all perspectives were covered. I also felt that we had a very fine group of people in our jury. Some of them had gotten to know each other during the lunch breaks, but being shy I ended up not getting to know them until we entered into deliberations. It seemed to me that everyone was being fair, considered all the evidence, and did not rush to judgment. Nobody in our jury tried to convince anyone else to think the same way they did. If someone expressed concern over a specific area then we would all discuss that and look at it from different perspectives. Should I ever find myself in the position of needing a jury, I would accept this one in a heartbeat.
After the verdict was read and we were dismissed, some of the ladies went out for lunch at Mary's Pizza Shack. They invited me along and I accepted, because it felt good to be out of the house and interacting socially. Plus, our heater is broken and it's like 60 degrees outside so I was in no rush to go home. Dee was nice enough to give me a ride since I am not familiar with the downtown area and had no idea where the restaurant was. One of the alternate jurors met us there and we all had a nice lunch and discussed the case. I was still fairly quite but I did make an effort to speak up a few times.
I didn't enjoy waking up early, and finding a man guilty of second degree murder was no easy feat, but overall I did enjoy my jury experience and am glad I didn't try to get out of it. Who knows, maybe the next time I receive a jury summons I won't throw my head back and groan loudly in annoyance.
No comments:
Post a Comment