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North Carolina Babies
MrsHughesNC
member
Jury Duty-FINALLY over...about the case (long)
MrsHughesNC
member
Today was day six, and luckily, I am DONE!
Some of you asked about the trial, so I'll tell you about it now that I can:
A guy ("D") and his girlfriend ("K") ended up being stranded at O'Malley's Bar in Raleigh on New Year's Eve because she locked their keys in the car. They were waiting on a cab--were told it would be an hour or 2, being NYE--and another guy, who they really didn't know, ("T") offered them a ride. T is a 49 y/o scruffy biker looking dude, and D and his girlfriend are in their mid 30's. D has a history of run ins with the law, including assault, as well as DWI. They eventually agreed to T's offer, and T drove them home. T wanted to continue partying with them, and asked if they had any booze at the house. K told him they had "just a little bit of vodka," apparently in an attempt to tell him it wasn't enough for the 3 of them to drink, but T took it as an invitation.
Once they got to the house, T apparently followed them inside (unbeknownst [sp?] to D&K, according to their testimony), and refused to leave depsite D very sternly telling him the party was over, and he needed to leave. After several times of telling him to leave, and him not leaving, D pulled out a BB gun, that looked like a real gun, to scare T. T refused to leave, and a scuffle ensued, and T ended up getting pretty banged up by being hit with the gun and D's fist (some superficial wounds on his face and head that required stitches). The gun did not have ammunition, and could not have fired. T fled, then drove to a friend's house, who drove him to the hospital. The hospital is who called the cops. D was arrested the next day.
T's side of the story was that he was invited in, and upon getting out of the car to K wearing a tank top and it being 23 degrees that night, he put his jacket over her shoulders to keep warm. Supposedly, he said once he got inside, D accused him of hitting on his girl, and attacked him.
D's side was that he was not invited in, and walked in through a closed door behind them, and would not leave. He pulled the gun to scare him, and then T tried to wrestle it out of his hand, and that's why the scuffle took place.
D was charged with Assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and Assault by pointing a gun. The case was totally he said/ he said, by two people who were not entirely believable... it was pretty tough. I found no one's testimony especially credible, and it was hard to determine my stance. It took 4.5 days to hear the case, and 6.5 hours to deliberate. We arrived at a hung jury/mistrial, which sucked, considering the time we'd put into it!
But 3 others and myself could not find D guilty beyond reasonable doubt, although the rest of the jury was very quick to find him guilty. I stood my ground, because despite the fact that I found D shady, I didn't really believe a lot of T's testimony either. The State did not provide enough evidence to me to indicate that D did NOT act in self defense, or in defense of his home, in which case we could not give him a guilty verdict. The other 3 felt the same way. The other arguments were about the gun, and if it was considered an actual gun, and/or deadly weapon. Also, regarding the extent of T's injuries, and if they were in fact "serious."
It was quite interesting, and I didn't find much of it boring, terrible, etc. It was actually kind of neat. I am, however, very glad it is over. 
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Jury Duty-FINALLY over...about the case (long)
***Baby #3: BFP Mother
Wow, I think I'd have a hard time with that case too. He said/she said stuff really makes it hard to figure out. Good for you for standing your ground!
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K did testify, and of course took D's side. We pretty much decided her testimony was completely worthless and rehearsed though. But she supposedly didn't witness the actual 'assault'--she was allegedly upstairs with their dog when it took place-- so we didn't feel she was an actual witness.
WHO in their right mind takes a ride from some random biker dude? Were D and K crazy?!?!?
I'm glad the trial is over. It sounds interesting, but I can't imagine listening to that story for that many days. I'm glad you stood your ground, even though it made for a hung jury. I can imagine the peer pressure to convict would be fierce!
Catching up on sports news...
He supposedly was a friend of someone they knew, and they did meet him, albeit very briefly, that evening. They lived less than 5 minutes from the bar, and D was so macho, that I'm sure he wasn't scared of some wirey scruffy old guy... But yeah, I'm with ya.
There was a LOT of peer pressure. In fact, I at one point stopped the discussion to remind the others of how it was unfair and unproductive how they were criticizing our lack of "common sense" in a roundabout way, eventually causing the foreman (who opposed my feelings) to issue a formal apology to me. I told them they were fortunate to have such a black and white viewpoint of the case, but that the 4 of us did not see it that way, despite their attempts to sway us. I was very proud of myself for being a Badass, and not the shrinking violet I can sometimes be. hehe.
Glad it's finally over!
I was on a jury last year for a case that was similar in that it was he said/she said. They were both really shady characters, so it just seemed like everyone was in the wrong all around! Luckily it only lasted one day, and man was that boring!