The #JodiArias Retrial: A Juror’s Perspective DAY 20 “THE DAY THAT NEVER WASN’T” I opened my mail to find a letter that reads: “Today I really need to hear your Jurors take on things... You, more than most, should be able to tell us what would be going on in a Jurors mind...Your life has been (basically) put on hold, since September... You are cut off from watching the nightly news... God forbid that you should pass a newsstand; you force yourself not to let your eyes focus on a newspaper... And then, the Great Judge Sherry, grants you (bless her heart) EIGHTEEN glorious days of time off! During this time off, you can spend time with your family (dont talk about the trial)... You can, perhaps, go back to work (dont talk about the trial)... You can watch TV (dont watch the news)... You can check your email (watch out for the news)... And FINALLY, its January 5th - and you are back in the courthouse, as you were instructed to be... Only to be told - never mind - go back home remember the admonition... But seriously, Paul- what do you think is going on in the minds of those jurors? The last testimony they heard was that of Dr. (Goofy) Geffner... Those jurors heads must be spinning! As a former juror of a capital murder trial, whats going on in your mind? Are you starting to resent the defense team at this point? Are you starting to wonder what the hell is wrong with this judge? Are you considering doing something to get you’re a** off this jury panel so that you can get back to your OWN life?... Im sorry... just trying to pick your brain... - Love you and all that you do for those of us that rely upon you and the other respectable courtroom journalists, that try to share with us, what Judge Stevens has cut the public out of.” KDK -- Sixteen jurors made their way to the juror parking garage in anticipation of day 20 of the Jodi Arias Death Penalty Retrial. They were well rested after eighteen days of court recess for the Christmas holiday. The jurors enter the garage at the security gate. Some drive alone while many have learned to carpool since many live great distances from the courthouse. They tell the guard they are here for jury service and the guard tells them to park on the fifth floor or above. The first five floors are reserved for critical city personnel. Most jurors do not know that they share the garage with the Forensic Examiner’s Office. They don’t notice the unmarked white coroner’s vans that go in and out of the same garage. Some jurors may question why they have to park on the highest floors. That question is quickly diffused when they realize it is only a minor inconvenience if they were to look at the big picture. There are jurors that will take the stairs to the ground floor while others will take the elevator. When they reach the bottom floor and walk outside, they see the Juror bus waiting for them with Phillip, the casual but professionally dressed coach driver, standing at the luxury bus’ opened door. He cordially greets each and asks to see their juror notice upon entry to the bus. The bus is almost full of jurors as they find their seats. Monday is busy at the Maricopa County Courthouse as thousands of potential jurors are called to do their service daily. It was the Monday after a holiday and the court system was expected to be laden with trials. The chauffeured ride to the courthouse is only eight blocks but takes ten minutes due to the heavy volume of downtown traffic. The juror looks out the window and remembers that the court has not finished with the questioning of the last witness, Dr. Geffner. It was not testimony any juror really looked forward to especially after the interminable testimony of the prior psychological witness, Dr. Fonseca. The good thing was that each juror was rested and ready to seek resolution in this State of Arizona versus Arias matter. The jurors are dropped off in the early morning sunlight in front of the courthouse. Phillip always gives a parting greeting when each person exits the bus and extends his hand to each female Juror as they step off the bus. He smiles and makes each juror feel welcome and honored to be part of the system. They make their way past security and head to fifth floor Jury room, sometimes referred to as the “Little Room” or “The Island” as we referred to it on our jury. Entering the jury room is like a family reunion with friendly greetings to each other. At this point in time, entering their third month of being together, they will make their way to their self-assigned seats. Each will catch up on the events of the holidays. Janet and Randy, the Judicial Assistant and Bailiff, will check on them periodically to make sure all sixteen are accounted for. The energy in the room is high as they wait to be brought into the courtroom. At 9:30 AM, Janet will appear and inform them that there will be a delay in getting started as the attorneys are meeting with Judge Stevens. They will not be surprised. There is an interesting tradition that many Judges do for juries on long term trials. They cannot speak to the jury but recognize their efforts by stocking snacks at the beginning of each week. Judges pay for this out of their own pocket and not with taxpayer monies. Mondays usually feature a vast array of new snacks that the Judge will have preset in the little room for them. Many will indulge commenting that their diets can wait another day. There will be peanut butter stuffed pretzels, fresh pastries, Twizzler Ropes, hard candies and even chocolate (which every Juror loves). Jurors will have their snacks and some will look at their notes from the testimony of eighteen days ago. It will not take them long to get up to speed as to where they had left off. Each was sure it would be Dr. Geffner on the stand again. None would show that they looked forward to it with any great anticipation. The morning delays are probably the most frustrating for Jurors. Each goes to great lengths and avoidance of a plethora of possible catastrophes in preparing to be to court on time. Are the kids ready for school? Where are my car keys? Is the baby sitter ready for the afternoon? Are there any work issues that need to be taken care of? Do I have to park of the eighth floor in the jury garage every time I get here? Each goes to super human lengths to avoid being late and when Court does not start on time, it is somewhat irritating. But, in the big picture of things to a juror on a death penalty trial, it is only a minor inconvenience. When Judge Stevens and the attorneys walked into the little room at 10:20 in the morning, where the Jury waited patiently, each knew today was for naught before she began apologizing for sending them home for the day. Meanwhile… I dressed for Court with an air of anticipation. It had been a long eighteen days and I, like the jury, felt refreshed. It occurred to me as I was tying my Garcia tie that January marked the forty second week out of the fifty two weeks that I was preparing to go to the Superior Court Building. It was one year ago that I had been selected to be a juror on the remarkably similar case of Marissa DeVault and the premeditated murder of her husband, Dale Harrell. The book, “Brain Damage: A Juror’s Tale – The Hammer Killing Trial” (available on Amazon) was born fifty two weeks ago. There is a remarkable difference between my attending the trial as a Juror and attending it with a view from The Gallery, the public seating area of the Courtroom. The difference is in the weight of moral responsibility. As a juror, I never wanted to do anything less than the best job I could do in that very unfamiliar role. I was responsible to a system that has been in place for over two hundred years. It was my job, along with fifteen others, to do as instructed and behave as reasonable human beings should behave. And, it is a responsibility to something greater than me and that is to find the path to justice with the tools I have been given by God through my experiences and the relationships with my fellow jurors. I no longer carry that weight of responsibility in the pit of my stomach when I go to court. It is still amazing to me that I can speak comfortably walking down the hallways of the courthouse or in the confines of an elevator. I no longer carry the “Scarlet Letter” of being a juror and wearing a badge. I still respect the freedom of being able to have lunch where ever I want without fear of being overheard. I walked the steps to the courthouse and saw my friend, Kathy Brown, who had been out with the flu the last week of trial before the Holiday. We hugged in friendship. I also saw Mikal-Ann, the self-proclaimed “Crazy Lady” whom I hugged as well. She had been coming to this trial every day and was one who attended the Marissa DeVault Trial as well. We used to see her from the jury box when she would trial watch from the gallery. We called her the lady with the “Scrunchy Face”. We could not figure out if she was part of the family of Dale Harrell or that of Marissa DeVault because she would change sides daily. Since most us were rookie Jurors, we did not know of the commitment of trial watchers. She also stuck out to us because she had an interesting and unique sense of fashion acumen. I think she is the reason this jury calls us, “Gypsies”. She has a good heart and would do anything to show her support for the Travis Alexander family. We entered the courthouse and made our way to the public seating room on the first floor. It was like a quiet reunion as we met with the other various people in the room, catching up on our holiday activities. It was 9:20 and we told each other to quiet down as Janet always enters at the same time and none of us wanted to start the day with a firm admonishment that “this room is to be treated like a courtroom with complete silence”. Fifteen minutes later, she had not arrived. The projection screen that commanded the center of the room showed the muted actions of Judge Stevens and her courtroom. One could see convicted inmates accompanied by their lawyers as the Judge rendered sentences. I assumed this delay was because of the multiplicity of defendants that were put in front of her and this is why things were running behind. Janet showed up and led us to the courtroom after explaining the rules of which I knew by heart. There was to be no eating, drinking or talking in the courtroom. Judicial conferences were not an opportunity for us to break out in conversation although they are a good time to use the restroom. We were just about to get into the elevator when someone introduced themselves to me. Once she said her Twitter name, it was like two old friends getting together who only knew each other through 140 characters at a time. “Simma Dunn Naw?” I asked in a whisper in the elevator. “The 13th Juror?” she asked. “Paul,” I said as I shook her hand. “Deb,” she answered smiling. I often call this trial experience, “Trial by Twitter”, because of the heavily sanctioned media. No live filming of the trial can be shown until after the verdict so communications and relationships have been built in the Twitter world. Hence, running into Deb was like seeing an old and well-known friend, created one hundred and forty characters at a time. I appointed myself as the court tour guide. We got to the fifth floor and Janet went into the courtroom to survey the situation before letting us in. Deb introduced her friend from Wisconsin, Allison, who wanted to attend the trial on one of her vacation days. She was a dark haired soft spoken girl who really wanted to see Juan Martinez as well as show her support for the family of Travis Alexander. We immediately got along. Janet returned swiftly and guided us into the courtroom to our designated rows behind the family of the defendant. I sat next to Deb and put a finger over my lips to signal silence. She nodded in agreement. I waited until Janet was looking away and started showing her the usual suspects in the courtroom in front of us. I whispered ever so softly in her ear as I gave her direction out of people’s sight. I kept my eyes on Janet and would halt speaking the moment she turned around. In that, play by play I showed her everyone. Juan Martinez, Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott were having a long bench conference with Judge Stevens and we could only see their backs as “white noise” buzzed over our heads. I directed Deb’s attention to Maria de la Rosa, the State appointed mitigator for Arias. We watched as she went over to Arias and gave her a sheet of paper. Moments later, Maria de la Rosa came up to the family of the defendant seated in the first row and shook hands with each and offering pleasantries in a whispered voice. I pointed toward the prosecution table and noticed that Juan’s boss was sitting in the seat that Juan Martinez always sat in. I think I knew then that something was wrong. Janet was leaning over and talking to Randy, the Bailiff, who was seated in the front on the right side of the courtroom. He was always an animated and friendly court person usually being seen with a smile on his face or walking with authority as he would go get the Jury. He had a funny nuance being a tall man like me. It seemed that is long sleeve shirt and accompanying sweater fit tightly but was a size too small in length. Just a funny nuance… “Who’s that?” she whispered to me, pointing toward the table behind the prosecution table?” I had to look twice to see. It took me a moment to realize that it was David Bodney, the attorney. I remembered him from last October as the attorney who represented the media and the public when Judge Stevens had sanctioned all of us for the secret testimony given by whom we now know as being from Arias herself. This attorney looks a lot like Juan Martinez in many ways being sharply dressed and well-manicured. He carries himself confidently and was a master orator in his appearance before the Appellate Court in defense of our interests in this trial. Looking back, I realized that this was the second thing out of place while the attorneys were buried in a bench conference with the Judge. Suddenly, Judge Stevens recessed the court for five minutes. The jury had still not been called to their seats. Kathy Brown tapped me on my shoulder from behind me. She whispered, “The State’s website just announced that court is recessed for the day!” It is amazing how fast this went around the courtroom seats in almost complete silence. I do not think there was one of us who were truly surprised that this would happen. This trial seemed to have featured every delay possible. None of us knew that, at 8:30am, Kirk Nurmi had filed a motion with the Supreme Court preventing the release of the Arias secret testimony. This legal maneuver had halted the court proceedings. I pictured Judge Stevens telling the jury in the little room. They had known something was off as well as I did. The morning delays were usually ten or fifteen minutes. This delay was almost an hour. When she entered their room, they knew they were being excused for the day. I am sure there were some faint sighs that could be heard and maybe even a look of consternation and irritation from some but it would only be momentary. The juror on a case that comprises less than two percent of all judicial cases knows from the beginning that these cases will have delays. They learn quickly that it is pointless to ask questions. They are lambs to the law of justice. They are to listen and they are to follow the direction of the court. They have each made a moral commitment in their hearts to complete the process no matter how long it takes. The have made a verbal commitment to the court that they would do as asked. They did not know the depth of their sacrifice when they began on this jury but for each day that passes, their commitment becomes greater. This is a minor inconvenience to the juror because it is nothing in comparison to the task they have at hand. There is a statue that one may see in conversations of law. Her Greek name is Themis, many of us know her as Lady Justice. Her head is slightly raised and her blindfolded eyes look toward a distant horizon. She stands tall and carries a sword in her left hand, ready for battle. I liken this sword to that of Juan Martinez and the prosecution. In her other hand, she lifts a chained dual scale, their balance not quite horizontal. That scale is held by the hand of the jury and its weight on either side may change balance throughout a Trial and its walk of justice. If the jury were to look at that scale at this stage of the trial, they understand this: On one side are the interests of the convicted murderer who has qualified to be on Death Row. They know they will one day decide whether she lives or dies. For now, it is of minor consequence. There is not one juror who goes to bed at night or wakes up in the morning without seeing a picture of Travis Alexander in their mind’s eye. They may forget some of the one hundred and fifty two pictures that Juan Martinez presented on the second day of this retrial but they won’t forget all of them. Some may only see a few yet each will remember the face of Travis Alexander in death. It is the other side of the scale that is most important to this jury and it is that of justice for Travis Alexander and his family. They see the family every day seated in the front row of the courtroom and they cannot ignore those interests. It is unique that a jury only decide the third phase of a trial. They did not have the benefit of walking the road through mountains of evidence to determine premeditation. They did not get to reach a verdict that determined that this crime was cruel and heinous. They have also figured out that this is the most difficult phase of a capital murder trial and the responsibility is of the greatest importance. They certainly want to be rid of the burden of responsibility that weighs in their hearts and minds. They know that their minds don’t stop working just because court is in recess. It never leaves the mind and thoughts always end up unresolved. They crave to talk about it but they will not. All of the inconveniences and sacrifices of a trial are a minor inconvenience to the juror because in the big picture, somebody undeservedly lost their life in a cruel and heinous manner by premeditation. Many will choose to walk back to the jury parking garage instead of taking the jury coach. It will give them time to think. It will slowly come clear to many on the jury that this phase of the trial is more about Justice for Travis Alexander and his family than the sentencing of his convicted killer. This jury is committed and only an act of God can change that... The jury of sixteen will be back on Thursday at 10:00am (MST) lined up in an ordered queue along the aisle of the “Green Mile”. Once again, they will be ready to walk the path of justice for Travis Alexander… I hope I answered your question, KDK... “Every good relationship that develops as a result of this trial is the manifestation of the spirit of Travis Alexander.” Justice 4 Travis Alexander. Justice for Dale Harrell. Paul A. Sanders, Jr. The 13th Juror @The13thJurorMD (Twitter)
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 05:33:15 +0000
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