Not Guilty

Poor hubbie had to stay at the courthouse all day. The case was one of alleged spouse abuse. He was one of six jurors (the other nine called were dismissed). When he came home at lunch, he had heard only the woman's testimony, but when he finally came home after 6 p.m., he said that the afternoon testimony seemed to indicate that she gave as good as she got and that she was "trying to scratch out her husband's eyes, and all he did was hold her arms." Most telling was the 11-year-old daughter's call to 911, in which she was basically giving a play-by-play (blow-by-blow) account to the 911 operator. Spouse's eyes teared up when he spoke of how emotionally traumatized that little girl seemed to be by her parents' fighting. I wasn't there, so I can't judge, but I do wonder if the truth can be revealed in such a setting. At least both parents had agreed not to put the child through the ordeal of testifying in court. (Her call to 911 was on audiotape.)

He also said that the judge appeared to be about as bored and uninterested as he could get. He sat there with his computer open, checking email, playing online games, etc. Occasionally one of the attorneys would need him to rule on some evidentiary something-or-other, and they had to repeat themselves because he hadn't been listening. Okay, so it's Friday, and he's tired, and he's heard all this before, but damn it, the man should be listening! People's lives are being affected by this trial.

I've spent a quiet day doing crafts and baking a pecan pie for esteemed one. After all, he was off doing hard work today, earning a whole $30.50 for his services. (That works out to a little more than four bucks an hour.) I think I've changed my mind about professional jurors. I used to think it was a good idea (following the O.J. Simpson silliness, especially). But after spouse related his day to me, I began to think that maybe it's a good idea that most people only serve on a jury once or twice in a lifetime. Since they are not yet bored by the situation, they tend to pay more attention to the evidence and testimony. If jurors were as jaded as that judge, the idea of justice would remain only an idea, not ever a reality.

Eyes wide shut, it seems. Dr. S.