Completely off topic- Jury duty and due process

I recently served as a juror in Maine.  Before deliberations, the Judge instructed us to use "your God given common sense"  to determine whether the defendant was innocent or guilty.  It's an interesting and helpful way to explain what, exactly, reasonable doubt means.  Whereas, in the State of Maine, both direct and circumstantial evidence hold equal weight - a person can be convicted on direct evidence alone or circumstantial evidence alone.

In this case, we couldn't find any reasonable, possible reason for the defendant to be Not guilty.  There is no pleasure in finding, along with 11 of your peers, a person guilty. I am a person that likes to believe that all people are well intentioned, to give the benefit of the doubt.  For this reason, I can see how many juries, if anything, will be more likely to vote not guilty.

Still, to ignore your duty to the state to see "that justice is done" is just as criminal.  Certainly, anyone piece of evidence, alone, was not enough to find guilt; however, volumes of evidence which repeated itself time after time, in a systematic matter, more than ruled out that this was just a case of an honest mistake.  It was the volumes of evidence that would be criminal for the jurors to  ignore. 
 
The Judge also stated that jury duty "is a thankless job".  He is right. While some of my Massachusetts coworkers may have joked that I was at the beach all week, sitting in a courtroom, hanging on every word of lawyers and witnesses, and, ultimately, judging someone is not fun.  Having all the evidence, a thousand tiny smoking guns-- everything except the witness actually confessing to the crime --still makes it tough.
 
I will admit, it is a bit surreal; it is like watching an episode of Matlock. Certainly, the defense appeals to your sympathies and attempts to mock the prosecutions evidence in a manner that could only be meant to be interesting and entertaining.  However, the defense's performance failed to create reasonable doubts in our minds.  On the flip side, the sometimes circumstantial physical evidence paired with witness after witnesses testimony gives a fairly damning impression in court.  Ultimately, the prosecution tied the web of incongruities and misconduct back to the defendant.


Always strive to do the right thing.