Juror 11: A Story of Murder - A Story of Judgment

Ever wanted to be a juror on an important trial? Now is your chance. In this book, you’ll be a virtual juror, experiencing the challenges of a trial involving murder, deception, judgment and plenty of excitement. I was the foreperson of an actual murder trial, and I’ve brought the story to you – although names in this book have been changed and some information supplemented. While based on an actual court case, I have taken the liberty in telling this story of introducing fictional characters in an effort to provide some explanation behind what might have motivated juror 6. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Don’t skip ahead! Knowing the end result will not give you any benefits. Instead, it will take away the challenge of sitting in the jury panel box as you seek the truth and decide if the defendant is guilty or innocent. In the past few years, a variety of murders have captured our nation’s attention. Many times, uninvolved people are quick to indict the accused, often within hours of the incident. Politicians take the microphone and the rest of us turn to social media to proclaim our horror and expound on the guilt of the accused. Keeping our impartiality is no easy task. Juror 11 does not attempt to explain why justice sometimes prevails while at other times it seems nowhere to be found. Instead, Juror 11 offers you a chance to experience the judicial process as a virtual juror who ultimately must judge a fellow citizen. Knowing yourself, can you consider someone innocent until proven guilty? Knowing yourself, can you be a fair and impartial juror and base your judgment on the facts of the case? If you believe you can, then take the Juror 11 Pledge, and let’s get started! From Chapter One: Can you, or anyone else for that matter, be fair and impartial when asked to judge other human beings? Recently, I was interviewed by CBS46 in Atlanta regarding the Justin Ross Harris trial after the judge granted a change of venue. The trial was moved from Cobb County, Georgia, in April 2016 because of the difficulty of finding enough impartial jurors to proceed locally. I will give you more details about that interview a little later in the book, but first, please consider these questions. Do you think justice in the American court system is possible? Do you think the legal system is flawed and can be tilted one way or another? Do you think the term ‘balancing the scales of justice’ is just wishful thinking? Do you think attorneys attempt to seek the truth, or do they just want to win the case no matter the collateral damage? Have you ever been seated in a juror panel box for a significant trial? Do you think it is possible for a juror who has an unresolved issue from his or her past to possess a desire to tilt the scales of justice and influence a verdict? Do you think a juror who thinks he or she has been dealt a bad hand in the game of life might attempt to get even with society after being granted supreme power over another person’s life during a trial? Do you think a juror might use that power to avenge something or someone? Do you think the American court system is flawed because the system uses human beings, who are themselves flawed? Have you ever asked yourself who judges the jury during and after a highly publicized trial?