Have a cup of coffee and settle in for a story...
The defendant wants to hide the truth because he's generally guilty. The defense attorney's job is to make sure the jury does not arrive at that truth. Alan Dershowitz This week, I had first-hand knowledge of that idea. I served three days on a Petit Jury in a criminal case that could have just as easily been decided by a team of monkeys. But, it's our system and I'm proud of it. Even though I have been a registered voter for 37 years, this week was only the second time I have been selected to serve on a jury. Like many others, my immediate thought was, "How do I get out of this?" However, my inner voice said, "If you were on trial, wouldn't you want someone like me on the jury?" My answer was, "yes," and so I proceeded to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The selection process was interesting. Approximately 75 of us gathered in the courtroom, and the judge randomly called numbers correspo...