Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
I was a juror in Roger Stone's trial. I am proud of how we came to our decision.
Seth Cousins was juror Number 3 in the Roger Stone trial.During the first half of November, I made a brief journey with 14 fellow Americans, all of them strangers to me. Together we were the 12 jurors (and two alternates) sitting in judgment of longtime political consultant Roger Stone. We sat through five days of testimony and half a day of closing arguments. After eight hours of deliberation, we returned guilty verdicts on each of the seven counts we were charged to consider.
Since we delivered that verdict, I have been taken aback by the accounts of pundits and politicians that our decision was somehow the product of a deeply polarized, partisan divide. Let me be clear: We did not convict Stone based on his political beliefs or his expression of those beliefs. We did not convict him of being intemperate or acting boorishly. We convicted him of obstructing a congressional investigation, of lying in five specific ways during his sworn congressional testimony and of tampering with a witness in that investigation.
Our jury was diverse in age, gender, race, ethnicity, income, education and occupation. Im a 51-year-old white man from New England. My favorite person on the jury was an African American woman from Tennessee. Given that the trial took place in the District, the likelihood of having government employees in the jury pool was high and, indeed, we had such individuals. Like jurors everywhere, none of us asked for this responsibility but each of us accepted it willingly. We served the proposition that everyone is entitled to a fair trial and that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
Interest in this case was high, and the court took special steps to prevent us from being harassed or improperly influenced. Each morning, we assembled at a building several blocks away and made our way to the parking garage, where federal marshals would load us into vans with tinted windows for the trip to court. On arrival, we moved through the building via a freight elevator and back corridors.
-more-
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-was-a-juror-in-roger-stones-trial-we-took-his-rights-seriously/2019/11/22/234d7df0-0d46-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html?utm_campaign=opinions_saturday&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Newsletter&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
5 replies, 1591 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (32)
ReplyReply to this post
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I was a juror in Roger Stone's trial. I am proud of how we came to our decision. (Original Post)
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
Nov 2019
OP
I made it through, despite being a lawyer. Interesting experience. Hard to decide
empedocles
Nov 2019
#5
empedocles
(15,751 posts)1. Liked the juror protective cautions
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)2. I could never serve
on any jury prosecuting these traitors in the repub. party. Stone looks just like what he is - a self described "dirty trickster". Stephen Miller is a slimeball, and looks just like that. They all have one thing in common - lack of human decency. Thanks to all the jurors who made this decision.
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)4. Yep, I likely wouldn't make it through voir dire.
empedocles
(15,751 posts)5. I made it through, despite being a lawyer. Interesting experience. Hard to decide
for me to decide whether the jury or the judge was worse. Good to know.
Indykatie
(3,696 posts)3. We're Lucky That Most Government Crimes Are Prosecuted in DC, NY and VA
It ensures that trials have the benefit of diverse juries. I'd worry about jury nullification for Trump related crimes if the jury were composed of all White folks in Red areas of the country.