Last week, I completed my obligation as a member of a jury.\u00a0 I participated in the case of The People versus Demetrius Marcus.\u00a0 My summons came on January 31st.\u00a0 I wound up spending the better part of a month in the jury box.\u00a0 Maybe I could have gotten out of it.\u00a0 But as a writer participating in the process, I think I got more out of it than I gave.<\/p>\n
The People charged that Demetrius Marcus entered The Pollard residence on March 27th, 2017.\u00a0 He was armed, threatened violence on the eldest Pollard (Charles), threatened and pistol whipped the middle Pollard (Keith Sr), stole the Playstation 4 from the youngest Pollard (Keith Jr) along with a wallet and some marijuana.\u00a0 While escaping the gated complex, Demetrius Marcus turned and shot Keith Sr.<\/p>\n
Marcus was charged with 2 counts of robbery, 1 count of assault with a deadly weapon, and 1 count of felony in possession of a weapon.<\/p>\n
Before I get into the details, I want to take a moment to appreciate how the court functions and how it differs from what pop culture would have us believe.\u00a0 For example, in the movies and on TV, court always starts the same way.\u00a0 The judge enters the room from his chambers, often with a brisk step and a stern look on his face.\u00a0 The bailiff intones, “All rise!” Everyone stands up.\u00a0 The judge says, “You may be seated.” Maybe he bangs a gavel.<\/p>\n
In the real life court room, the judge was usually seated when we came in.\u00a0 They’d bring in the jury all at once.\u00a0 We’d make our way to our designated seat in the box.\u00a0 In the afternoon, the court secretary would give us a bowl of candy to pass around.\u00a0 When things were about to start, the bailiff would say, “Remain seated, the court is now in session.”<\/p>\n
After we had finished with deliberations, handing in the verdict proceeded much like it does on TV.\u00a0 The bailiff took an envelope from the foreman, passed it to the court secretary, and she read out each count and jury’s judgement.\u00a0 The defense exercised their right to have the jurors individually polled.\u00a0 That whole procedure had the weight of ceremony.\u00a0 I felt the responsibility resting on my shoulders.\u00a0 There was enough ritual to the process that it\u00a0seemed like we might summon the blind avatar of justice herself.<\/p>\n
Each member of the jury is given a binder which contains all of the instructions and descriptions for the charges.\u00a0 In addition, the binders contained notebook paper and a pen.\u00a0 I took so many notes that I needed to ask for more paper.\u00a0 Most of my notes were about the witnesses and their testimonies.<\/p>\n
I’m not going to write about all of the witnesses that took the stand.\u00a0 There were over a dozen individuals and I don’t remember all of the details.\u00a0 Also, I didn’t get to keep my notes.\u00a0 The binder had to stay in the courtroom the whole time, and when we were done with deliberations, we were told to leave the binders in the deliberation room, to be destroyed later.\u00a0 Fortunately, I have a pretty good memory.<\/p>\n
The first witness, Teron, was a neighbor of the Pollards.\u00a0 He lived in the apartment across the way, and he heard the commotion when the robbery was going down.\u00a0 After shots were fired, he called 911.\u00a0 Teron wore glasses, spoke with a quiet voice, and tried to cooperate as best he could.\u00a0 After he gave his testimony, we were able to hear the recording from the 911 call.<\/p>\n
Teron left me with the impression that the witness testimonies were going to be straight forward.\u00a0 The reality is that the DA started with Teron because he was the most reliable and the most credible of the non-police witnesses.\u00a0 If the witnesses for this case were part of a multi-course meal, Teron was the appetizer.<\/p>\n
The next witness called was Officer Tippets.\u00a0 I’m not trying to fat shame, but Tippets was a big boy.\u00a0 He had a hard time fitting in the witness stand.\u00a0 He squinted and pursed his lips before answering most questions.\u00a0 When he spoke, his eyebrows would raise, like a child asking his parent, “Did I do good?”<\/p>\n
Again, I’m not trying to judge or berate Tippets.\u00a0 He seemed like a good guy.\u00a0 But as a writer, I kept noting all of these interesting details about him.\u00a0 The details that would make a character stand out in a story.<\/p>\n
Tippets was one of the first officers on the scene after the 911 call.\u00a0 He talked to all three Pollard men.\u00a0 His account of what the Pollards had to say gave us the first hint of what was to come.\u00a0 That the story of what happened in this case wasn’t going to come easy, and it wasn’t going to be clear.<\/p>\n
I believe Keith Pollard Sr was the next witness called.\u00a0 This is the middle Pollard, the one that was shot.\u00a0 For reasons that became obvious, Keith Sr’s testimony was the most important, and not only because he was the victim.\u00a0 The whole case centered around Keith Sr, his relationship with a woman named Shawana, and his tax returns.<\/p>\n
When Keith Sr took the stand, I knew we were in for a wild ride.\u00a0 For starters, he was brought in against his will.\u00a0 He’d tried to flee the city when the trial began.\u00a0 He’d been captured and incarcerated and brought in against his will.\u00a0 He said on the stand that he was cooperating, but he only cooperated to a point.<\/p>\n
Keith Sr couldn’t give his account straight.\u00a0 He kept jumping around, not quite answering the questions given to him.\u00a0 Chronologically challenged.\u00a0 He was a short man with a hard edge and a little bit of swagger.\u00a0 I remember noting that he had a lot of pride, and that the way he presented himself was important to him.\u00a0 Not vanity.\u00a0 It was more that he wanted people to know that he was tough and brave.<\/p>\n
The district attorney kept asking Keith Sr questions and expecting certain answers.\u00a0 Keith Sr’s answers consistently disappointed the DA.\u00a0 For example, the DA asked about where Keith Sr’s bullet wound and where he was shot.\u00a0 The DA was convinced that the bullet entered the front of Keith Sr’s shoulder and went out the back.\u00a0 Keith Sr kept saying that he had his back to the shooter.\u00a0 That he didn’t see who shot him, and that the bullet went in his back and out the front.<\/p>\n
I could go on and on about Keith Sr.\u00a0 He was quite the character.\u00a0 He had messed up teeth, big eyes, and a hot temper.\u00a0 He was clearly upset about losing a job because of the case.\u00a0 The reason he’d been at his parent’s apartment that night was to take care of his Mom, who has some health issues.\u00a0 I remember noting that I liked Keith Sr.\u00a0 I also remember noting that I didn’t think he was very credible, and I had a hard time believing his testimony.<\/p>\n
While they had Keith Sr on the stand all of one day and part of the next, they only had Keith Jr on the stand for about ten minutes.\u00a0 Keith Jr was a punk.\u00a0 He did not want to participate or answer any questions.\u00a0 At one point, the DA asked, “If you had any information that would help my case, would you share it?” And Keith Jr said without hesitation, “No.” That sums up Keith Jr’s testimony, and every account of what Keith Jr had to say throughout the investigation.\u00a0 He seemed more interested in street justice, and would rather die than help the police.<\/p>\n
The last witness I’ll talk about is Charles Pollard, Keith Sr’s father.\u00a0 Charles walked and talked slow, a lazy, deliberate pace.\u00a0 He smiled and genuinely tried to help, but he didn’t seem to have much information to offer.\u00a0 He wasn’t able to identify the defendant as one of the two men that entered his apartment that night.\u00a0 He wanted to be helpful, but he didn’t have much he could contribute.<\/p>\n
There were many other witnesses.\u00a0 So many.\u00a0 There was Trujillo, the hot detective in training that took Keith Sr’s account in the hospital a couple of hours after the incident took place.\u00a0 There was Burgquist, the detective assigned to the case that was just a few months from retirement.\u00a0 There was a forensics expert that specialized in finger prints.\u00a0 Other police officers.\u00a0 All of them interesting characters in their own right.<\/p>\n
But the jury’s job isn’t just to listen to the witnesses and take notes.\u00a0 Their job is to take all of this evidence and discern the truth of what happened.\u00a0 And that’s what we did.<\/p>\n
I want to talk about the deliberation process and some of the drama that came out of that.\u00a0 But before I do, let me walk you through what I think happened in this case.\u00a0 I’ve already talked about some of the key players.\u00a0 Let me paint for you a picture of what really transpired based on the evidence that was presented.<\/p>\n
Sometime in 2016, Keith Sr and Shawana Lynn entered into a relationship.\u00a0 They went to Reno and married in June of that year.\u00a0 It sounded like it was a spur of the moment thing.\u00a0 Much of what happened with them was spur of the moment.\u00a0 This was not a great union, and their relationship was rocky at best.<\/p>\n
They often stayed at the apartment where Charles Pollard lived.\u00a0 Keith Sr was his Mom’s caretaker, but I think they stayed there most of the time because they didn’t have any money.\u00a0 Keith Sr was often employed, but Shawana herself did not work.<\/p>\n
In early 2017, when it came time for Keith Sr to do his taxes, Shawana suggested that he claim her daughter.\u00a0 That would ensure that they’d get a big tax return.\u00a0 They went in together, and the people that did their taxes gave Keith Sr a prepaid credit card with about $500 on it, an advance on the larger return to come.<\/p>\n
With the promise of thousands of dollars of tax money, Keith Sr and Shawana went to Matador Motors to purchase a 2016 Nissan Altima.\u00a0 Keith Sr didn’t have a driver’s license so Shawana drove off with the car.<\/p>\n
Shortly after that, Keith Sr discovered that the prepaid didn’t work.\u00a0 Shawana had stole the real card and replaced it with an empty one.\u00a0 Keith Sr went to his tax people made a change so that instead of the rest of the money going to the card, Keith Sr would be sent a paper check.<\/p>\n
Keith Sr cashed the check and gave the money to his father for safekeeping.\u00a0 He and Shawana exchanged some heated text messages concerning the car and the tax money.\u00a0 Neither of them were particularly nice to each other, but in one of the last messages, Shawana sent “I’m sending you the life insurance forms. You’re worth more dead than alive.”<\/p>\n
On March 27th, just before midnight, Marcus and another individual stormed into the apartment where Charles Pollard lived.\u00a0 Charles Pollard was near the door, sitting on the floor while he\u00a0went through some mail.\u00a0 Keith Jr was in the back room on a couch, playing his Playstation.\u00a0 Keith Sr’s mother was also in that room, sitting on a bed.\u00a0 She’d been sick, soiled herself, and Keith Sr had just cleaned her up.\u00a0 Keith Sr was in the bathroom cleaning up the mess.<\/p>\n
The first assailant stepped immediately up to Charles and pistol whipped him.\u00a0 Charles moved, and the assailant hit him again.\u00a0 The injuries were severe enough that he would later need to be taken to the hospital.\u00a0 A laceration behind his ear bled for days after the event.<\/p>\n
While Charles was getting pistol whipped, Marcus went to the back of the apartment, gun drawn.\u00a0 He saw Keith Jr and made him get down on the floor.\u00a0 Keith Jr complied.<\/p>\n
Keith Sr heard the commotion.\u00a0 He started out of the bathroom and saw his son getting down on the floor, bug eyed.\u00a0 He came out, rounded the corner, and immediately ran into Marcus.\u00a0 They fought over the gun.\u00a0 Marcus won, throwing Keith Sr to the ground.\u00a0 Marcus kept saying, “Where’s the shit at?\u00a0 Where’s the shit at?”<\/p>\n
Marcus pistol whipped Keith Sr.\u00a0 Keith Sr offered his wallet as well as a small container of weed that was sitting on the counter.<\/p>\n
The first assailant came to the back of the apartment to help Marcus.\u00a0 He reached past Marcus and hit Keith Sr with his gun.<\/p>\n
When the first assailant went to the back of the apartment, Charles got up and bolted out the door.\u00a0 He went to a neighbor’s apartment to call 911.<\/p>\n
Marcus and the assailant tried to cut their losses.\u00a0 Marcus grabbed the Playstation, the wallet, and the weed.\u00a0 He and the first assailant then both fled the apartment.<\/p>\n
It’s a little bit unclear as to what happened next.\u00a0 There are some conflicting stories.\u00a0 Keith Jr may have pursued the first assailant.\u00a0 There’s a lot of speculation as to what Keith Jr did.\u00a0 It’s clear, however, that the Playstation, wallet, and weed were dropped along the way.\u00a0 It’s also clear that Keith Sr got up and chased after the robbers.<\/p>\n
The apartment complex is a gated, retirement community.\u00a0 There was only one way in and out of the complex.\u00a0 Regardless of what transpired between the Pollard apartment and the gate, it was at the gate that Keith Sr saw Marcus and the first assailant get into a white Nissan Altima.\u00a0 The same Altima that he and Shawana had purchased together just a couple of weeks before.\u00a0 It was at the gate where Keith Sr was shot.<\/p>\n
I believe that Keith Sr saw Marcus turn and shoot him at that time.\u00a0 Marcus fired the gun twice — pop pop — and one of those bullets went into his shoulder.\u00a0 The Altima sped off and Keith Sr went back to his apartment.\u00a0 His neighbor Teron had called 911 after the shots were fired.\u00a0 A little while later, the police arrived and Keith Sr was taken to the hospital to be treated for his wounds.<\/p>\n
At the hospital, Officer Trujillo and her partner took pictures of Keith Sr and took his full statement.\u00a0 He spoke for over an hour.\u00a0 Trujillo didn’t have any equipment to record the conversation, but she took several pages of notes.\u00a0 Important details came through in that account.\u00a0 I believe that the most accurate account we received of what happened that night came from Keith Sr talking to Trujillo.<\/p>\n
Going into deliberation, I wasn’t really sure yet what happened on the night of March 27th.\u00a0 There’d been lots of testimonies, but much of it was contradictory.\u00a0 Especially the accounts given by Keith Sr.\u00a0 Every time he told the story of what happened, and he told it a lot, there were details that didn’t line up.\u00a0 I didn’t think Keith Sr was credible enough to find anyone guilty.<\/p>\n
But there was other evidence.\u00a0 While Demetrius Marcus was being held prison before the trial, he’d called Shawana.\u00a0 He didn’t think he was being recorded, and they talked about threatening and intimidating Keith Sr to get to change his testimony, or not testify at all.<\/p>\n
The most painful part of deliberation for me was putting up with one of the other jurors.\u00a0 He could not follow the instructions we were given, and he kept making up stories and taking the entire discussion down flights of fancy.\u00a0 He asked for the court recorder to come and read back an hour and a half of testimony that we didn’t have any questions about.\u00a0 He was a complete jackass.<\/p>\n
If we had any questions or requests during deliberation, we needed to write it down.\u00a0 The foreman would contact the bailiff, pass the note along, and a little bit later we’d receive a response.\u00a0 I passed a note to the foreman, and she nodded and sent it on to the bailiff.\u00a0 The note was, “What do we do if one of the jurors is unable to follow the instructions?”<\/p>\n
The response came quickly.\u00a0 We were brought out of the deliberations room, taken back to the hall outside the courtroom, and the foreman was brought in and questioned by the judge for a few minutes.\u00a0 Then the problematic juror was brought in,.\u00a0 He was questioned for almost twenty minutes while we waited in the hall.\u00a0 Once they were done with him, they brought us all in.\u00a0 The judge reiterated some of the instructions then sent us back to continue our deliberations.<\/p>\n
After that, the juror behaved a little bit better.\u00a0 He was still a jackass, though.\u00a0 I’m pretty sure he was trying to stretch out the trial because he was getting paid the whole time we were on jury duty.\u00a0 It was like a vacation for him that he didn’t want to end.<\/p>\n
In the end, we found Marcus guilty of robbery in the first degree, guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, and guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.\u00a0 There were two enhancements on the first count that we found him not guilty.\u00a0 Because there were two people with guns, most of the jury couldn’t agree beyond a reasonable doubt that Marcus was the one that shot Keith Sr.\u00a0 Myself and two other jurors were sure Marcus had done it, but we found that we could live with finding him innocent on those enhancements.<\/p>\n
As a writer, I came away with a treasure trove of information that will influence the subject matter of future stories.\u00a0 Did you know that it is rare to get usable fingerprints, and that if your hands are particularly dry, you might not leave fingerprints at all?\u00a0 That’s just one little nugget I picked up from this experience that flies in the face of what pop culture would have us believe.<\/p>\n
But jury duty is important whether you’re a writer or not.\u00a0 It’s an inconvenience, but it’s also an important part of our society.\u00a0 If good people of integrity do their best to avoid jury duty, who is left to sit and judge the evidence?\u00a0 To listen to testimony with an open mind?<\/p>\n
Whatever faults our criminal justice system may have, the jury system is one of the things we got right.\u00a0 But it only works as long as good people of conscience participate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week, I completed my obligation as a member of a jury.\u00a0 I participated in the case of The People versus Demetrius Marcus.\u00a0 My summons came on January 31st.\u00a0 I wound up spending the better part of a month in the jury box.\u00a0 Maybe I could have gotten out of it.\u00a0 But as a writer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":975,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971\/revisions\/975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}