ElizabethB
Guru
I had Jury Duty August 5th and 6th.
I have been called 5 times. This was the third time I have served. The first two times were in civil court. Personal injury. In both cases fault was stipulated so our job was to decide how much the insurance company had to pay. I HATE PI CASES.
This last case was a criminal case in federal court. I have not said anything before now because I have had to have time to digest the horrific crimes committed.
If you have young children, especially daughters, you may not want to read further.
I knew this was more than a PI case because I had to report to the Federal Court instead of State Court. The day began with the typical "hurry up and wait" while all of the perspective jurors were checked in. 60 perspective jurors were escorted into the court room and the Judge began voir dire. The questioning of the jurors continued until 3 p.m. 12 jurors and 2 alternates were selected. I was juror #9. We heard 2 witnesses that afternoon.
The case
The case was being tried in federal court because the offense had taken place on federal property - Fort Polk Louisiana, Vernon Parish. The accused was in the Army living in base housing.
The indictments
#1 Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of 12
#2 Sexual Abuse of a Minor Between the Ages of 12 and 16
The accused is the father of the victim.
Day one the Attorney for the Government made his opening statement. It was graphic and disturbing.
The Defense Attorney made his opening statement. He tried to cast doubt on the daughter's testimony by claiming motive (she was angry with her father) and error on the part of the initial investigators and the DNA Analyst. I felt sorry for him because he had nothing to work with.
The evidence was overwhelming. The Detective of Sex Crimes from the Vernon Parish Sheriff's department had 12 years experience. She explained her method of collecting evidence. The first was a black light test. Body fluids fluoresce under black light. Different fluids fluoresce distinctly. Blood fluoresces red with a medium viscosity. Sweat is nearly clear and feathered from the movement of the body. Semen is white and thick. The family had been living in the apartment for 9 months. The detective testified that the room "lit up like a Christmas tree." With 12 years experience investigating sex crimes she testified that she was shocked by the amount of semen in the room.
The most gut wrenching part of the trial was the testimony of the child. She is 16. A small child who looks younger than 16. She has been abused since she was 9 years old. Her description of the early abuse was that her father told her to take off her clothes. He took off his pants and rubbed himself against her back until white stuff came out. When asked what happened next she said her father told her to clean herself. This was when the family was stationed in Fairbanks Alaska. They were transferred to Fort Polk Louisiana. The abuse continued and escalated to forced oral sex and eventually to rape.
Where was the Mother? Working. The father always limited his abuse to times when the Mother was away.
The parents divorced after the father returned from a tour in Afghanistan. He had domicile custody of his children. Daughter and 2 younger sons. Mother was living in Barksdale CA. Father had a live-in girlfriend.
The young girl finally told her father's girlfriend that "My Daddy took my virginity." The girlfriend made an anonymous call to the sheriff's department.
The child was taken to the police station to be interviewed. She made a rough drawing of their apartment. She put dots on the drawing of her room to show where here father had abused her. Semen was found in every location.
The final whiteness was the DNA analyst. Her testimony was overwhelming. She compared known samples from the father and daughter to unknown samples from the scene. The samples matched the father's DNA. The probability of finding another match would require the population of 28 million earths.
We retired to the jury room . Had we taken a vote as soon as we sat down we would have had an immediate verdict . Based on the principle of innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt there was some discussion about the DNA evidence . One juror did not understand the numbers . After 30 minutes we returned a verdict of guilty on both counts
Sentencing will be 2 or 3 months from now . Indictment #1 30 years to life - no parole . Indictment #2 15 years to life - no parole. In addition the defendant is facing state charges and trial for the same crimes committed on non federal property (off base apartment )
After the trial the Judge asked to speak with the jurors. Because it was public record he told us that the defendant had been offered a plea bargain. 25 years - no parole on federal charges and a discussion with the state DA about dropping or reducing state charges. The reason was to spare the Child from having to testify against her father. The fool refused the plea.
The Judge was very frank. The defendant will get 30 years only in his dreams .
Every morning and every evening I pray for that child . She is 16 and her life has been ruined by her father . The man who should protect her from evil has subjected her to all evil.
Life in prison will not give his daughter her childhood . Nor will it give her a normal adult life .
Sorry
I have debating sharing this with you . It was a gut wrenching experience . I am not sorry for serving. I will always think of that Child.
I have been called 5 times. This was the third time I have served. The first two times were in civil court. Personal injury. In both cases fault was stipulated so our job was to decide how much the insurance company had to pay. I HATE PI CASES.
This last case was a criminal case in federal court. I have not said anything before now because I have had to have time to digest the horrific crimes committed.
If you have young children, especially daughters, you may not want to read further.
I knew this was more than a PI case because I had to report to the Federal Court instead of State Court. The day began with the typical "hurry up and wait" while all of the perspective jurors were checked in. 60 perspective jurors were escorted into the court room and the Judge began voir dire. The questioning of the jurors continued until 3 p.m. 12 jurors and 2 alternates were selected. I was juror #9. We heard 2 witnesses that afternoon.
The case
The case was being tried in federal court because the offense had taken place on federal property - Fort Polk Louisiana, Vernon Parish. The accused was in the Army living in base housing.
The indictments
#1 Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of 12
#2 Sexual Abuse of a Minor Between the Ages of 12 and 16
The accused is the father of the victim.
Day one the Attorney for the Government made his opening statement. It was graphic and disturbing.
The Defense Attorney made his opening statement. He tried to cast doubt on the daughter's testimony by claiming motive (she was angry with her father) and error on the part of the initial investigators and the DNA Analyst. I felt sorry for him because he had nothing to work with.
The evidence was overwhelming. The Detective of Sex Crimes from the Vernon Parish Sheriff's department had 12 years experience. She explained her method of collecting evidence. The first was a black light test. Body fluids fluoresce under black light. Different fluids fluoresce distinctly. Blood fluoresces red with a medium viscosity. Sweat is nearly clear and feathered from the movement of the body. Semen is white and thick. The family had been living in the apartment for 9 months. The detective testified that the room "lit up like a Christmas tree." With 12 years experience investigating sex crimes she testified that she was shocked by the amount of semen in the room.
The most gut wrenching part of the trial was the testimony of the child. She is 16. A small child who looks younger than 16. She has been abused since she was 9 years old. Her description of the early abuse was that her father told her to take off her clothes. He took off his pants and rubbed himself against her back until white stuff came out. When asked what happened next she said her father told her to clean herself. This was when the family was stationed in Fairbanks Alaska. They were transferred to Fort Polk Louisiana. The abuse continued and escalated to forced oral sex and eventually to rape.
Where was the Mother? Working. The father always limited his abuse to times when the Mother was away.
The parents divorced after the father returned from a tour in Afghanistan. He had domicile custody of his children. Daughter and 2 younger sons. Mother was living in Barksdale CA. Father had a live-in girlfriend.
The young girl finally told her father's girlfriend that "My Daddy took my virginity." The girlfriend made an anonymous call to the sheriff's department.
The child was taken to the police station to be interviewed. She made a rough drawing of their apartment. She put dots on the drawing of her room to show where here father had abused her. Semen was found in every location.
The final whiteness was the DNA analyst. Her testimony was overwhelming. She compared known samples from the father and daughter to unknown samples from the scene. The samples matched the father's DNA. The probability of finding another match would require the population of 28 million earths.
We retired to the jury room . Had we taken a vote as soon as we sat down we would have had an immediate verdict . Based on the principle of innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt there was some discussion about the DNA evidence . One juror did not understand the numbers . After 30 minutes we returned a verdict of guilty on both counts
Sentencing will be 2 or 3 months from now . Indictment #1 30 years to life - no parole . Indictment #2 15 years to life - no parole. In addition the defendant is facing state charges and trial for the same crimes committed on non federal property (off base apartment )
After the trial the Judge asked to speak with the jurors. Because it was public record he told us that the defendant had been offered a plea bargain. 25 years - no parole on federal charges and a discussion with the state DA about dropping or reducing state charges. The reason was to spare the Child from having to testify against her father. The fool refused the plea.
The Judge was very frank. The defendant will get 30 years only in his dreams .
Every morning and every evening I pray for that child . She is 16 and her life has been ruined by her father . The man who should protect her from evil has subjected her to all evil.
Life in prison will not give his daughter her childhood . Nor will it give her a normal adult life .
Sorry
I have debating sharing this with you . It was a gut wrenching experience . I am not sorry for serving. I will always think of that Child.
Last edited:
for every juror who has had to sit listen to such awful stuff.