Jury Duty

This week I spent Monday through Thursday serving on a jury in Conroe... It was a very interesting experience that I will remember forever. Being apart of the judicial wheel was very rewarding and a great learning experience. It was fun to have a case that I understood to talk with Jay about. I told him yesterday that I might have missed my calling… being a prosecuting attorney. Just kidding… I think I will leave the law to him.

The case was an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with 4 counts charged... the testimony and evidence was very sad and definitely kept my attention. The folks involved were homeless, day labors; just trying to survive day to day… they stayed in abandoned houses with no running water or electricity and at one time even lived in a tent behind a shopping center. Most of them didn’t have cars, which made it very difficult to keep jobs and keep themselves safe. It opened my eyes to the basic daily blessings we have that I so often neglect to realize truly are blessings from God. Just recognizing that having a roof over my head is a blessing and gift changes the perspective of so many little non-important things.

If you ever get chosen for jury duty I encourage you to take it seriously and give it the time and respect it is owed. A person's future along with their family and friend’s futures are on hold until a verdict is reached and the jury is responsible for that decision to be made.

In this case our jury was split 8 guilty to 4 not guilty and would have been considered a "Hung Jury", but the state and the defendant reached a plea bargain where he plead guilty on one count to a lesser charge - "aggravated assault with bodily injury” and received 2 years in prison. For some of the jury members they were pleased to have the weight of rendering a verdict off their shoulders, while others felt that not enough justice was served. I left feeling that my time as a juryman was well spent. The defendant got off with a lesser charge and a lesser punishment and the state got their conviction.

Now it is Friday and the weekend has begun. Jay headed north this weekend to spend time with his family and buddies in Dallas and I am off for dinner and a girl’s night with some great friends.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and takes some time to remember and thank God for the basic blessings in our lives.

Happy Friday.