Middlesex Superior Court / Woburn

It was my 1st time being called for Jury Duty and I wasn’t sure what to expect.  When I walked in, I was given a # and told to take a seat so that they could go over everything with us.  There was about 125 or so people there so I figured I had a great shot at being sent on my way.  To my surprise, we were then told by the court officer that there were 15 trials scheduled to start that day and we would all most likely be needed!  Thankfully, I brought my IPod and sat back waiting for what would happen next.
About an hour later, I found myself in a courtroom being asked a few questions and then sent back into the hall.  We were all brought back in and my # was called.  I was now Juror #7.  We were told the case would go until at least Friday and possibly Monday or Tuesday so it looked like I was going to be spending quite a bit of time in the new courthouse.

Jury Duty was not like the movie!

At this point we are all seated in our box and we start to get the details of the case.  Long story short, the defendant is charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.  Back in August of 2008, there was an incident outside of Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School and the victim was injured after a confrontation that left him with 2 stab wounds.  At the time, the defendant was 19 and already out of school and the victim was 15 and taking summer classes.  At 1st when I heard the basic details, I was thinking that this guy was guilty and what was he thinking stabbing this kid!

The Prosecution started off calling witnesses to the stand.  At the time of the attack, the victim was with 4 of his summer school classmates.  The victim, along with 2 of his friends were called as witnesses.  Then a few detectives/officers were called and then followed by a few experts.  It was your typical “Law & Order” episode.  Listening to everything and seeing all of the evidence (especially the pictures of the young boy in the hospital and his blood soaked clothes), you really felt bad for the victim. 

One thing that was odd was that the friend’s testimony was all different.  I knew they were young, but you would think being there when this happened, they would have been a bit more convincing.  They were all consistent saying that they did not draw the defendant to them…that he walked by them and then came back to start with the victim.  They all said the defendant pulled a knife and stabbed the victim. 

But what was strange was that they said the victim and the defendant were arguing, but not raising their voices and they didn’t hear a thing.  One said they were about 5 feet away, one said more like 10 and one estimated more like 15.  1st, I have heard many people argue before, and it is never in a calm, quiet voice.  2nd, there is a big difference between them being 5-15 feet away.  And 3rd, I could not understand how they did nothing to draw the defendant in…that he walked by and came back to approach them.  It just doesn’t sound logical to me.
There was no doubt that something happened and the victim was stabbed BUT, something just didn’t add up.  The defendant had headphones on and was listening to his mp3 player.  Why would he just walk by, walk up the street and then come back?  Is it logical the defendant would come back to start trouble with 5 boys especially since he is much shorter and most likely weaker than them?  And why would he want to do this seeing he was on his way to meet a guidance counselor at his old high school to help him fill out some financial aid papers and get himself into college?
But then things started to get a bit clearer.  It was brought up by the defense attorney that the defendant was gay and that as the defendant was walking down the street, these boys made “gay type” gestures to the defendant.  The defendant has experienced this type of behavior before and had had enough.  He went up to the boys and asked them why they were doing that.  A verbal confrontation ensued with the victim pushing the defendant and spitting in his face and then a few punches were exchanged. 

At the same time, 1 of the other boys was standing behind the defendant.  The victim put him in a headlock, and the defendant, fearing for his safety, pulled a knife he had in his back pocket (which he stated he had because he was sick of being treated this way) and started waving it around to get the victim off of him and in the process, stabbed him at least 4 times, 2 of which penetrate into his side and sternum.  The defendant now free, ran off to the school seeking the counselor he was supposed to meet.
In the meantime, the victim tried to get a cab to take him to the hospital, telling the cab driver he was stabbed.  The cab driver REFUSED to take him and said that he didn’t want blood in his cab!  This was really bothersome to me.  This kid was 15, stabbed and bleeding, and this cab driver refuses to help and drives off leaving him in the street to find some other way to get to the hospital.    I hope at some point, they figure out who that cab driver was and that he gets fired!  There is no reason to refuse anyone, a child or adult, a ride to the hospital when they need it, especially when he is bleeding in front of you!   Thankfully, a member of the Cambridge Public Works was driving by and gave the victim a ride without question.
In the end, the victim was released from the hospital 2 days later and to this day, has no serious lasting effects.  During the trial, not 1 doctor was called to talk about the victim and the stab wounds, which I thought was odd, but also had me thinking that maybe injury was not as serious as it looked.  As jurors, it was our job to decide the fate of the defendant.  We were told to think the details over, talk about it and use the guidelines we were given to declare him guilty or innocent.  We were to also use common sense and ask ourselves if the Prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty as charged.  In the end, we found him innocent as we believed he was acting in self defense and did not go to the school that day with the intent to harm or murder anyone.
I won’t get into what we discussed as I don’t want to share what my fellow jurors had to say (nor do I know if legally I should share it), but the consensus was the defendant was enticed into this by the harassment he received when walking by, and in an attempt to say he was sick of it and to stop, a confrontation ensued and quickly it was 5 against 1.  His only choice was to take out this knife to get free.  At 1 point, the Prosecutor did say the defendant could’ve said he was sorry and that he made a mistake and then walked away, but as much as people want to think that is an option, it isn’t.  If there were 5, maybe.  But when you are talking about young boys and fists are coming out…if the defendant would’ve tried that, nothing would’ve changed.  Kids at that age don’t care.
Now, why am I sharing all of this?  Obviously there is nothing funny in this blog post and all of my blogs either are silly or stupid and hopefully make you laugh.  But this time I am writing to all parents to take a minute of your day and just talk to your kids about bullying.  In the past, I’ve told my son to make sure he never does it, especially after watching the news and seeing how kids are taking their own lives or how they live in misery and nobody seems to step in and do anything about it. 

But after being a juror on this case, you have to add that when you bully someone enough, they may take things into their own hands to get you to stop.  And it could be you that gets hurt.  In my heart, I didn’t believe the defendant meant to kill anyone.  He clearly had enough and this was the day someone pushed him too far to the point he wanted to speak up and during a fight in which he was going to be out numbered, he used the only thing he had that he thought would get him out of it…a knife.  In the end we are lucky nobody was killed.  But again, it is a HUGE warning sign!

While we should all be telling our kids to get along and not to bully others, we should also be teaching them to stop their friends from doing it or step in when they see someone else getting bullied and break it up.  We do not need to have kids hurting each other with words and weapons and especially hurting themselves to the point they take their own life.  It is easy to do nothing and think “my kid isn’t like that,” but how would you feel if you get a call that your kid is the bully and has pushed a fellow student to the point where something tragic has happened?

It doesn’t matter if someone looks or acts different, is gay or straight, is loud or quiet or dresses in designer clothes or hand me downs, we need to teach our kids to treat others with respect immediately!  If you don’t like someone, keep it to yourself and move on.  It is time we all do our part to stop this growing problem before it gets out of hand anymore that it already has.  This trial I was just a part of didn’t have to happen.  The defendant would’ve filled out his papers and been in college.  The victim would have continued on his way to play basketball with his friends and never would’ve been stabbed.  The defendant and the victim probably would never walk past each other again and went on with their lives.  Instead, August 4, 2008 will be with them forever and they both will never be the same because of it.

Hopefully some of you will share this link with other parents so they can see what can happen and talk to their kids as well.

((And for the record, I probably unintentionally left out a few parts of the story and explained things in the way I interpreted or understood the details.  Any thoughts and opinions are meant to be mine only and are not meant to sound like I am speaking for anyone else on the Jury.   This was more to summarize it and to get the point out that we need to talk to our kids about the growing problem with bullying.))