head5

We talked after the case was declared a hung jury and they looked all sad, angry and very tired. I talked to two extensively (not just saying "hi") after, one before the real criminal was apprehended, one after. The second time was particularly emotive. It was a small lady who told me, crying, she had been bullied by the chief juror and never really believed he was guilty.

I am white, we were 10 white people, one latino and one asian/american (Not very asian looking)

Sort of. Jury's rules make it so votes are supposed to be anonymous (although everybody knew I was the one who voted not guilty) so it was impossible for the prosecutor or anybody to contact me directly. I did however speak with someone on the file once, but since he was a police officer, it was hard for me to say anything too direct. I did receive a letter from the court too.

Nobody in the jury room cared one shit about the 'evidence' they just wanted to go home. They said they didn't like how the defendant 'looked' so they just wanted to vote for guilty so they could leave.

Oh god yes. I know exactly what you mean.

One woman, the jury foreman was extremely racist and started shouting at me about how 'those people' pushed in her air conditioner and stole her mothers medicine when she lived in New York. Of course she meant black people, since the defendant was black.

I had one man in particular who was so racist he shouldn't be allowed to ever be in contact with people from other ethnicities. I don't mean "I hate blacks" racist, but "black is an impure race" kind of crap.

Did you lose money due to the police harassment?

No, not really. Most of the time I would get pulled, they would take my license and registration, take a long while to do nothing, and give me back my stuff, telling me to "get the **** out of here". I got two fines, I contested both and won (Actually they were both dismissed before the trial). So I did not lose money because of the harassment, although I did lose some time. I was pulled over for maybe 6-7 times.

Have you talked to a lawyer about it?

No.

Did you ever get a chance to see the jurors afterward?

Yes, two of them.

Any sort of commendation from anyone? A "well done" from the judge?

I got a court letter but as I said, they couldn't know for sure I was the one who caused the hung jury (although most of them knew). They couldn't even know if we were 11 guilty 1 not guilty, or 11 not guilty 1 guilty (theorically).

Did you ever talk to the accused afterward?

No :( And this is what makes me sad. I would have loved to hear what he has done with his life, and what he thought of this whole story. Somehow I like to think I sent a good father back to his home, to teach his kids there is a justice after all and that he got his name and reputation cleared thanks to me.