12 Ordinary Citizens

Someone once commented on the weight given to a jury by assessing that when the world seeks advice about medical matters, it usually consults a doctor, when society is interested in financial matters, it tends to talk to those in recognised financial houses, and the list goes on. However, when the world wants to make a decision about the fate of a man or woman accused of crime, however mild or heinous, then it asks 12 ordinary people with vastly diferent backgrounds to consider copious amounts of information, listen to, often conflicting, testimony and give a fair, unanimous verdict.

In the last week, I was tasked with the civic responsibility of being one such juror. Without going into particular detail, this was a case that involved sexual allegations from claimants who at the time of the offenses, were minors. This has unequivocally been one of the most challenging weeks of my life as , with eleven others, I contemplated the fate on the accused. For five days, the jury I was a part of pored over evidence, examined some 250 pages of witness transcripts and debated, often with vehement passion, the indictments made. The struggle arose when one of the twelve chose, by being defiantly adamant, that the crown had not suitably proven it's case.

Seeking further direction from the presiding judge when an impasse was reached, this group of twelve wrenched every drop of fact and consistent evidence from the knowledge bank we had, but could still reach no consensus. For almost seven hours, 11 Guilty, 1 Not Guilty was the tally. I was one of the eleven, who had affirmed that the evidence was overwhelming, that the defence of the accused was weak and intolerably inconsistent, and that there was no 'reasonable' doubt for not administering justice in this trial. As in all cases, especially ones of this nature, you are urged not to allow emotion to govern your decisions, but use common sense, draw on life experience and ultimately be a 'judge of fact.' This, I believe, was executed by this jury. Regrettably, the accused was not convicted of all counts due to a lack of unanimity, but my hope was kept alive by eleven people who were willing to sacrifice their opinions for deeper convictions, sacrificed their time to serve on what many shun as being something for old or retired people with nothing better to do, and often clearly chose to sacrifice their ego and listen with an open mind. The world is not full of cynical fools or selfish miscreants who are interested only in what benefits their world is my honest conclusion, but of people genuinely trying to make a positive contribution to society, even if they're just 12 ordinary citizens!