Unfiltered Story #247202

It’s 2016 and Denver was very racially charged that year. I had been called for jury duty and been separated for jury selection for a manslaughter trial. I am Caucasian, and it becomes evident that the jury selection is for the trial of a Middle-Eastern man. A bunch of potential jurors have already been dismissed, leaving only 20 of us, 14 of which would be selected as jurors and reserve jurors.

I am an unfortunately literal person, who does not get social cues at all. Jokes frequently go over my head. To add to that, I have an MA in Sociology, focusing on criminal justice and racial disparity in the system. The defense attorney was trying to be thorough and weed out jury members who were racist – so his wording with questions was very specific… for the most part.

Defense Attorney: “You are not here to judge this man. Who he is, his past, nothing should have any impact on your decision-making abilities in this case. What you are here in this courtroom to do is simple. You are here to decide if by his actions in a certain frame of time, he is not guilty. Raise your hand if you cannot separate the thought of judging an individual and judging their actions.”

No one raises their hand.

Defense Attorney: “Good. This means that each of you feels that you can decide if an individual’s actions fall within the parameters of the law, separate from the individual themselves.”

The defense attorney goes into a 5-minute spiel on the necessity of disregarding pasts and unknown information and focusing purely on the facts in question. Most of the other potential jurors look decidedly glazed over by the philosophical bent he has taken.

Defense Attorney: “… feel that he or she cannot judge this man?”

I raise my hand.

Defense Attorney: “Ma’am, you did not indicate that you had a problem with separating a person’s actions from his or her identity or past before. What is your problem?”

Me, honestly puzzled: “But… you didn’t ask if I could judge a man’s actions that time. You asked if I could judge him. I can’t judge a person.”

The defense attorney freezes and the courtroom is dead silent. Only for a minute though – everybody, including the judge and the defendant cracks up laughing except for me and the defense attorney. I’m confused and the middle-aged male defense attorney is blushing furiously.

Defense Attorney: “Ah… I meant his actions. We are not asking you to judge a man, pronounce him guilty or not guilty. Can you do that?”

Me, happy: “Oh, yeah. I can do that then.”

For some reason, I was the defense attorney’s 2nd choice for dismissal from the jury. It took me a long time to work out why.