Day Four, 3/15/12

My goodness today was a busy day!  I came in at 8:00 to watch a Trial which was a really cool experience.  Ryan Maloney also dropped by and watched the trial as well.  I got to see how they pick a Jury for jury duty; it takes about two hours also.  The judge and the attorneys ask questions in order to find the best and most impartial jurors.  At first the judge asks the jurors broad questions like something pertaining to the case.  This case was a domestic violence case so the judge asks if any of the jurors have ever known someone or has been a victim of domestic violence.  A vic (shorthand for victim) of domestic violence may be bias toward a Δ that committed such a crime.  By removing a bias juror it creates a less bias jury.  I then watched the prosecutor and defense attorney give their opening statements which are basically a thesis statement of what their goal is.  As Christian put it, a mental contract with the jury, it promises what the attorney will do.  If promises are not kept then the Δ is found not guilty.  I won’t bore you with the rest but to paraphrase four hours, witnesses were called to testify as well as the Δ.  At the end of that each attorney gave closing arguments which were SUPER cool.  The closing statement is the icing on the cake, a final hurrah to convince the jury of their position.  It was great to hear everything that you miss when uneducated on what to pay attention to.  Brian, the prosecutor, gave a fantastic statement! Talk about rhetoric! My humanities teacher Jessica would have been amazed!  Brian definitely convinced me.