I was called for jury duty this week. Amidst the hours of agonizing boredom and bureaucratic dawdling, I had the pleasure of witnessing the following dialogue (with Juror Fifteen's name changed):
Juror number fifteen, could you please introduce yourself to the court?
My name is Melvin Harrison. I live in the civic center area. I am single, retired, and have no living children. This is my first time on a jury.
What kind of work did you used to do, Mr. Harrison?
I was a temporary employee for the postal service.
I see. Now, Mr. Harrison, do you recall those questions I was asking the other jurors earlier? Do you have any responses to share with the court?
Well, I’m not sure if this is relevant, but as to the question of being a victim of a crime, I have been attacked many times. Now, the first time, see, I was living in the civic center area in one of them houses that--what’s it called—one of them houses that the bank had taken back—
A foreclosure?
Yes, they had forclosed on it. But, you see, I didn’t know that it was one of those houses. I kept seeing people going in and out all day long and I just assumed they lived there. But what it was, see, was that a bunch of people had moved in—they were drug dealers—and the people going in and out all day long was buying drugs. Now one time these people broke into my room and they attacked me with a can of roach spray. They sprayed it all over my face and arms and legs.
Did you report this to the police?
No, I didn’t report it. I can’t tell you why. I can’t get into it right now. But one day these people decided they were going to give me a message to make sure I never told the police. They came up to me with a straight razor. But they had painted it black, so that I wouldn’t see it, so that I would run into it. But I was familiar with a straight razor from when I was a boy. I remember I used to watch my daddy practicing his barbering. So I knew what one looked like. Now, this was downtown, not in civic center, so I ran into a drugstore and begged the security guard to let me stay inside until those people went away and left me alone. And I was lucky, because outside there was a policeman. He pulled up in one of them white cars they have and I told him what happened and he told me that this group had been doing this thing all day, walking up Market Street trying to stick folks. So we went in his car and we found one of them with the straight razor. He was wearing a big wig and he was dressed in ladies’ clothes….
Do you have any other responses, Mr. Harrison?
Well, I had a list here, but it’s in my bag and I don’t want to get into that right now. I think I about covered it.
Mr. Harrison, concerning this first incident you mentioned, with the roach spray—this attack sounds horrible. Why didn’t you report it to the police?
Well, when you see so much crime—and living in the civic center-tenderloin area, you see this kind of thing everyday—when you see so much crime you start to think that the police don’t matter very much. Sure, they help sometimes, but there’s just so much of it, they get overwhelmed. Nothing they can do. But I also felt like there was nothing I could do, either. Just like some of these other people was saying, you feel victimized. It reduces you. I felt vulnerable, not like a man. See, I’m not a woman, but you hear so many stories of rape. But a man supposed to be strong. I’m a man, but I couldn’t fight off a woman and a man when they came into my room and attacked me. I had a woman riding across my shoulders with me on my hands and knees holding a vacuum cleaner. Now, I always thought as a man I should be able to fight, but I knew that if I had called the police, it would have been a man who showed up. And that man would be thinking that I was too weak to fight them off me.
Mr. Harrison, do you think this experience will prevent you from objectively weighing the evidence presented in this case?
You mean the box?
(laughter in the courtroom)
That’s right the evidence box. Well, I’m glad that my analogy turned out to be successful. What I am asking is if you will be able to keep your emotions from this experience outside the box and put into it only the testimony and evidence that are presented here in this courtroom?
No, it won’t go in the box. I’ve worked past that all now. I’ve moved beyond it.
So, Mr. Harrison, is there any reason to think you won’t be impartial?
Yes.
Good—wait, there is? That you won’t be impartial?
Oh. I mean I won’t be partial. See, I had it the other way.
Juror number fifteen, could you please introduce yourself to the court?
My name is Melvin Harrison. I live in the civic center area. I am single, retired, and have no living children. This is my first time on a jury.
What kind of work did you used to do, Mr. Harrison?
I was a temporary employee for the postal service.
I see. Now, Mr. Harrison, do you recall those questions I was asking the other jurors earlier? Do you have any responses to share with the court?
Well, I’m not sure if this is relevant, but as to the question of being a victim of a crime, I have been attacked many times. Now, the first time, see, I was living in the civic center area in one of them houses that--what’s it called—one of them houses that the bank had taken back—
A foreclosure?
Yes, they had forclosed on it. But, you see, I didn’t know that it was one of those houses. I kept seeing people going in and out all day long and I just assumed they lived there. But what it was, see, was that a bunch of people had moved in—they were drug dealers—and the people going in and out all day long was buying drugs. Now one time these people broke into my room and they attacked me with a can of roach spray. They sprayed it all over my face and arms and legs.
Did you report this to the police?
No, I didn’t report it. I can’t tell you why. I can’t get into it right now. But one day these people decided they were going to give me a message to make sure I never told the police. They came up to me with a straight razor. But they had painted it black, so that I wouldn’t see it, so that I would run into it. But I was familiar with a straight razor from when I was a boy. I remember I used to watch my daddy practicing his barbering. So I knew what one looked like. Now, this was downtown, not in civic center, so I ran into a drugstore and begged the security guard to let me stay inside until those people went away and left me alone. And I was lucky, because outside there was a policeman. He pulled up in one of them white cars they have and I told him what happened and he told me that this group had been doing this thing all day, walking up Market Street trying to stick folks. So we went in his car and we found one of them with the straight razor. He was wearing a big wig and he was dressed in ladies’ clothes….
Do you have any other responses, Mr. Harrison?
Well, I had a list here, but it’s in my bag and I don’t want to get into that right now. I think I about covered it.
Mr. Harrison, concerning this first incident you mentioned, with the roach spray—this attack sounds horrible. Why didn’t you report it to the police?
Well, when you see so much crime—and living in the civic center-tenderloin area, you see this kind of thing everyday—when you see so much crime you start to think that the police don’t matter very much. Sure, they help sometimes, but there’s just so much of it, they get overwhelmed. Nothing they can do. But I also felt like there was nothing I could do, either. Just like some of these other people was saying, you feel victimized. It reduces you. I felt vulnerable, not like a man. See, I’m not a woman, but you hear so many stories of rape. But a man supposed to be strong. I’m a man, but I couldn’t fight off a woman and a man when they came into my room and attacked me. I had a woman riding across my shoulders with me on my hands and knees holding a vacuum cleaner. Now, I always thought as a man I should be able to fight, but I knew that if I had called the police, it would have been a man who showed up. And that man would be thinking that I was too weak to fight them off me.
Mr. Harrison, do you think this experience will prevent you from objectively weighing the evidence presented in this case?
You mean the box?
(laughter in the courtroom)
That’s right the evidence box. Well, I’m glad that my analogy turned out to be successful. What I am asking is if you will be able to keep your emotions from this experience outside the box and put into it only the testimony and evidence that are presented here in this courtroom?
No, it won’t go in the box. I’ve worked past that all now. I’ve moved beyond it.
So, Mr. Harrison, is there any reason to think you won’t be impartial?
Yes.
Good—wait, there is? That you won’t be impartial?
Oh. I mean I won’t be partial. See, I had it the other way.
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