My experience with the Virginia Judicial System as a juror: This case involved a 42 year old man who had been caught hunting without a license, a misdemeanor. It turns out he had two felony convictions from his early twenties and had lost his right to have gun, however; this meant he was also accused of felony gun possession (or whatever they called it). We found him guilty rather quickly. We then had to decide on a sentence. The prosecutor informed us that since this was his third felony the law required a mandatory 5 year sentence. As it turns out, no one was happy with that since there was no point in sending this guy to jail and having the state support his family. The defense attorney then pointed out that despite the law we still had to come to a unanimous decision. We took the hint. Fifteen minutes later we came back and declared that we could not come to unanimous decision about how long a five year term was <g>. The judge declared it a mistrial and we were done but confused. The judge then asked to see the jury in his chambers, which I gathered was not typical since the DA and PD looked stunned. The judge explained to us that we hadn’t simply wasted our time that morning. The term for the process was “jury nullification” since we had used our “authority” to override a law.
So, at least in this case, the jury decided on a sentence and the judge made no mention of his ability to overturn us. I’m no lawyer but that prospect was not brought up. >>> Cotty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 9/2/2007 4:16 PM >>> On 02/09/07, John Sessoms, discombobulated, unleashed: >And it's not uncommon for a jury to propose, and a judge to impose, >punishment for things the defendant wasn't actually convicted of. That's >the whole purpose of those charges that get dropped " late in the trial". > The jury decides sentence?? Hole moly. We do things different here. The judge decides. Besides, juries are notoriously fickle - if I was guilty, I'd opt to be tried by a jury. If I was innocent, I would opt to be tried by a just a judge. > >Bottom line - whether the sentence he gets is fair or not, a >50-something year old man who gets involved with a 19 year old drug user >and takes pictures of them doing kinky shit is an idiot. > >He's ultimately the victim of his own stupidity. Personally I think that's a bit harsh. Without knowing all the facts of the situation - and there's only one person who does - it's too easy to be judgemental, especially when we place our own life values into a situation that pertains to someone else's life. I think Bob fell into a set of circumstances - either of his own making or not - that became very difficult, and eventually tragic. Life is all about choices - and those choices lead to other choices. If you misjudge your decisions, then the consequences can be startling to outsiders. That may not ultimately be stupidity. Personally I hope Bob understands the consequences at the juncture he has arrived at, and now he will be forced into a scenario where he will be able to consider the results of his actions, rightly or wrongly, for some considerable time. And that's just plain sad. -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net !SIG:46db1b17196701655648579! -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
