My wife is guest blogging in this post about her recent experience serving on a jury. Enjoy!
A few weeks ago I received a piece of mail whose arrival was announced by Jody…“You’ve been summoned for jury duty!” After much sighing and contemplating how I might get out of it, I sent my form back to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. (I’ve only been summoned one other time but was excused that time since I was 8, almost 9, months pregnant.) The prayer sent up at the same time was “God, please PLEASE don’t let them pick me to be on a jury!! I have 2 little boys to take care of and if I get picked I’ll be sitting on a jury for my 4th wedding anniversary…and Jody has to leave town for 2 days for work. There’s no way I could be on a jury now!!!”

Tuesday morning, July 12, I was chosen as Juror #2 before 11am…was sent out for lunch and told to return in the afternoon…the trial would be starting. WHAT??!?! “God, this was not my plan! How am I ever going to do this??!?”

Fortunately the weather was nice that day so I sat outside to eat my lunch. After eating (that took all of 10 minutes), people watching, texting some messages, and answering a phone call, I found out that Jody had taken the boys for haircuts (Andrew cried the whole time he was in the chair), took them to the playground, and was, at that moment, enjoying a hearty lunch at McDonald’s. (Andrew can stuff a lot more food into his little mouth than you think he can!!) I missed those boys something terrible.

At the appointed hour, I returned to the assigned room in the courthouse. And found out they were STILL in the process of choosing jurors. (I learned quickly that there is “real time” and there is “court time”…and court time involved an awful lot of “hurry up and wait.) Eventually all jurors were selected and we assembled to hear opening statements.

Mr. Walker was on trial for his alleged involvement in an incident that occurred back in 2005. There were 2 counts against him – possession of an illegal substance with intent to sell and conspiracy. Both lawyers “waxed eloquent” and then we were sent home for the day.

Wednesday morning we reconvened. Witnesses and evidence were presented. We heard about the narcotics enforcement team that set up undercover surveillance on Bailey St. on a chilly October day. During the 45 minutes of surveillance, the officer who was the “eyes” of the operation watched Walker and another man interact with various people. They would talk, then Walker would get something from a black bag that was hidden in a hole and give it to the person in exchange for money. Officers stationed around the corner caught and arrested the first buyer and found a small packet of crack cocaine on him. At one point, Walker did not put the black bag back into the hiding hole. At that moment, the officer who had been watching all this, radioed to the rest of his team to come in for the “take down”…they would catch Walker red-handed. When Walker realized what was happening, he handed the black bag off to his partner, ran into a house, and slammed the door shut. Walker’s partner threw the bag onto the ground and started to walk away, only to be caught and arrested. The black bag was also taken by police. When officers pursuing Walker reached the door he’d gone through, they found it locked so they had to force entry. Once inside, they found a third man. Walker got away while they searched and questioned the third man. Surprisingly enough, inside the house they found pictures of Walker…and in one picture Walker was standing with a police officer. That officer was related to Walker and 2 weeks later talked Walker into going to the police station to try to straighten things out. Walker claimed innocence, he was not the one they’d been watching selling drugs for 45 minutes.

The officer who had been the “eyes” of the surveillance team was the main witness in the trial. Everything he said made sense, it seemed as though he’d done his job and had nothing to gain by falsely accusing Walker. Walker’s lawyer did all in her power to get us to think otherwise, to plant reasonable doubt in our minds. She showed us a young man who’d been in college and wanted to do his part in serving our country. His mom and aunt told how he was a law-abiding man who was mentoring others.

The thing that “did him in” though, was his own testimony. At the last minute he decided to take the stand himself. He told us that he’d been at the mall that day spending birthday money he’d received the day before. The friend who had supposedly driven him there was nowhere to be found. And up until this point, he hadn’t told anyone else that he’d been at the mall. He testified that, even though he had been living at the house he’d run through, it was an on and off living arrangement and that he didn’t know the man who lived there full time. When questioned about all the previous court dates that he’d missed, he told how he changed lawyers and no one told him what he needed to do…and that’d he gone out to Washington (state) for surgeries due to injuries from being shot.

Details in the story he was telling didn’t add up. And the law says that if you believe that a witness is lying about one thing, you can believe that he is lying about all things. A man who doesn’t know you very well certainly is not going to keep your picture displayed in his living room. If you are innocent, you are going to do everything to clear your name, not take off to the other side of the country and stop all communications with your lawyer and the courts.

As a jury, we had to decide who was telling the truth…the police or Walker. Some members of the jury did have issues that were unclear, some issues that put doubt in their minds. But after our discussions, we unanimously decided that Walker, indeed, was guilty of both charges.

The reading of the verdict was difficult. Walker’s mom was still in the courtroom. We knew that Walker had a wife and at least one child and that they would be affected by this as well. Walker did seem to have a lot of things going for him, but, unfortunately, made some bad decisions and got caught.

This experience had its comedic moments, too. One of the court officers was a very serious, “by-the-script” man. He gave the impression that if he were stopped part way through his dialogue, he’d have to start all over again. He always had a straight face. But till the end of our third day, we were able to get him to crack a few smiles.

And then there was Juror #6. Apparently he was a man with a mission…a mission to get sent home, that is! Jury day #1 and the morning of day #2 he had accomplished the following in the courtroom: raising his hand several times to indicate he needed to use the restroom, asking – out loud to the judge – if it was time for lunch yet, and asking – out loud again – if the evidence being presented to the officer on the witness stand was really crack cocaine. After lunch on day 2, Juror #6 was called out in front of the judge…and we never saw him again. After the trial concluded we found out that the clincher in his being sent home was when the prosecuting attorney saw Juror #6 wink at the defendant. Not a smart move on his part – he could have gotten into serious trouble for his actions.

What did I take away from this experience? First, knowledge that God will provide wonderful care for my boys when I am temporarily called away to do something else. Second, confirmation that staying home with my boys is the best thing. It’s not someone else’s job to raise them, it’s mine. I missed them terribly those 3 days. Third, another example of God’s supplying what I need when I need it. I was nervous about making a decision that would impact another human being’s life in a major way, but God supplied the wisdom needed to make that decision. Fourth, no man is an island. The decision Walker made 4 years ago to sell drugs is still affecting people today. His decision took officers away from their normal patrol duty so they could testify in court. His decision affected his mother in ways I hope to never know firsthand. His decision affected a group of 14 people, took them away from normal responsibilities to listen to testimony in court. His decision took me away from my home and my boys. And his decision means that now his wife and his children will be without a husband and father while he serves his sentence. Fifth, someone else to pray for. As I think of Walker and this incident, I am moved to pray for him, pray that God will somehow use this experience to bring Walker to a saving knowledge of Himself.