The Jury, Part 3
I thought I was done with this story but my soul told me I was not.
I feel the need to write about the concepts of presumed innocence and guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Presumed innocence is the bedrock of our legal system. It means that the people that make up the judicial system have to presume a person is innocent until that person is proved guilty. On the jury I participated in, the judge clearly explained that to us. We were not to assume guilt based on anything but the witnesses and evidence provided by the prosecutor. One of the questions we were asked, during jury selection, was whether we had heard or remembered anything about the case from the first trial 10 years earlier. The concern was that we might have heard evidence that, for whatever reason, was allowed in the first trial (the Kansas Supreme Court threw out the conviction in the first trial due to inappropriate conduct by the prosecutor) but was not allowed in the second trial. Justice must be blind to any info not ruled permissible by the judge to protect that presumption of innocence.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” - Psalm 19:7, 11-14 ESV
As hard as the presumption of innocence is as a concept, the determination of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt is even harder. It is a very subjective concept that, from my recollection, each person has to determine for themselves. In fact, the whole purpose of the trial is for the prosecutor to chip away at anything that increases doubt while the defense tries to open areas of doubt issues. Our jury was the perfect example of that reasonable doubt challenge. We ended with 7 guilty votes and 5 not guilty votes. Of the 5 not guilty votes, 3 of these people believed the defendant was guilty but didn’t think it was less than a reasonable doubt threshold. I have heard that it is rare for the defendant to take the stand in a criminal trial because their answers have a magnified impact on that reasonable doubt aspect.
For civil actions (lawsuits), the threshold is a presumption of guilt. This suggests the juror believes that the defendant is more likely than not to be guilty. I am sure our jury would have ended with 10 or 11 guilty votes if the criteria was more than likely guilty than not. For those of you old enough to remember OJ Simpson, he was not convicted criminally due to the reasonable doubt (his hands wouldn’t fit in the gloves, remember) but was convicted and ordered to pay something like $30 million when the victims’ families sued him after the criminal trial was over.
“When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” - Luke 5:22-24
“So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.” - Ecclesiastes 2:12-17
It is when the realization hits you that you are a part of the process that could result in a person going to jail for the rest of your life, these concepts of the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt become more significant than you think when you’re watching an episode of Law and Order.
