Jury

Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Jury Duty Episode 2.5

I call today’s post episode 2.5 due to the fact that I’m 2.5 days into serving jury duty and am actually pleased with the way it’s been working out thus far.

Initially, like most people when I saw the summons for last Friday, I was like oh crap!!! Not being too much a morning person, the idea that I’d have to actually get up and go early during rush hour to court was not my idea of a fun or an ideal situation, especially with how jury duty has worked out for me in the past.

I never forgot those long days of just sitting there waiting to hear your name called from among the pool of people there. Well as a law-abiding citizen I answered my summons and went. Day 1 ( yesterday) started out in typical fashion. I arrive at the courthouse, go through metal detection, and then have to surrender my camera to the police officer until the end of the day.

You would have thought this cop had never seen a camera before the way he gushed over it. Every other word out his mouth was an”Oh boy!” and “let me give you a receipt, I know you don’t wanna forget this”. It was almost to the point where I looked at him sideways like is he planning on jacking my shiznit? You best believe I scrutinized the receipt carefully for any errors in the description written on the receipt before proceeding to the jury room.

I sit for several hours before my name is called. Lucky day!!! Once inside the room that myself and several others were summoned to, a court employee in charge of gathering jury pools told us that sometimes they have cases that get done in a single day. I found that hard to believe.

I smiled at the thought of serving one day and being done with service for several more years…perfect! Well, due to the fact that several hours passed since the typical 9am start time, we were told that we would have to come back the following morning for the case to start.

Whoo hoo!!! since we weren’t going to be utilized that day we were free to go for the rest of the day. I wanted to give that court employee a high-five!! Before Stephen A. Smith could say “quick, fast, and in a hurry”, I was gone.

That ladies and gentlemen is what you call the Get Away.

Day 2 began with me rushing with rush hour’s masses from the bus to the train which was packed full of the typical selfish idiots who don’t move all the way into the train cars but block the doors.

I managed to squeeze into an express train just in time to see the hapless people oblivious to what rush hour means, standing on the escalators blocking both sides, appearing with sad faces as the doors closed behind those of us who rushed up the stairs to catch the train.

For some reason today the trains weren’t moving quite the way I’d have liked especially for rush hour on an express train but I managed to make it to the courthouse a few minutes after the 8:50am call time.

Arriving for duty your honor and ready to give evidence!!…evidence.

Today I decided to leave the camera at home and once inside the court and in the room we were to gather we were greeted by the same court employee from the day before who then proceeded to tell us that the case wasn’t ready for today and would start tomorrow.

Ladies and Gentleman, there is a God!!! God worked it out so good that we were given two options. Option A) stay with the rest of the jury pool for the day where we might be placed on another case. Or Option B) Leave for the day with full attendance credit and return same time tomorrow for this one day trial. Oh I almost forgot with the option of staying you could also end up still having to come back the following day anyway.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know which option I selected. Attendance was taken and those of us who elected to leave for the day were gone.

Stay tuned for day 3…

Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: The Trayvon Martin Murder Trial: Initial thoughts

Written by Akan Bosemann

I scarcely know where to begin as I try to compose and organize my thoughts on this emotionally charged and polarizing case for justice in the murder of a 17-year-old black male that took place over a year ago in the state of Florida.

I’m certain just from what I’ve seen on the media coverage of the case and the news reports from the time of the killing till now that this case is yet another case where America is on trial and not just Zimmerman.

My sentiments are reflective of a person who is of African-American heritage and ancestry. They are of a Black Man living in modern-day America, specifically, New York City , who has had his own experiences with discrimination, bigotry, and prejudice on different fronts.

I know there are many others from differing ethnic backgrounds who will want to chime in and express their concerns and empathize with the plight of all people who are victims of violent crimes and gun violence and not just “Black America”.

Some will want to shun the issue of ethnicity all together. I say ethnicity and not race because there is only one race on this planet when it comes to human beings and that is the human race. With that firmly established I turn my attention to what we all basically are to understand from what is happening in the Trayvon Martin Murder Trial.

And that is that the victim a 17-year-old boy who had done nothing wrong other than be black ,gets murdered in cold blood, then blamed for his death by his killer under the Florida State “Stand Your Ground Law”. The murderer, George Zimmerman is claiming he killed Trayvon in self-defense and feared his life was in imminent danger.

Tell me in what case anyone has ever heard of an accused killer being a minority in which the victim was white and the killer claimed self defense and wasn’t arrested on the day of the killing. Regardless of Zimmerman’s literal ethnicity he appears as a “white man”.

It hearkens my mind back to remember the history of America. An America that has so much of the blood of my people on its hands not even all the oceans of this world could wash them clean. Black men and women, young and old lynched and murdered where all white juries came back with not guilty verdicts patting themselves on the back and celebrating.

Zimmerman’s own words convict him and these weak and desperate attempts by his defense team and his supporters to blame a defenseless Trayvon Martin wreaks to the heavens. I’ll tell you what else wreaks to the heavens is a six person jury of all women and five of them being white and not a single black person on the jury.

The police department didn’t follow proper protocol in its investigation of Trayvon’s killing and let his murderer go free the same night just taking his(Zimmerman’s) account as gospel for what took place.

I listened with disgust as one Zimmerman sympathizer after another attemped to explain their willful ignorance and stupidity in analyzing what we know and what Zimmerman has said. The defense wants to claim it’s Zimmerman’s voice heard yelling for help on that 911 tape.

If that was Zimmerman screaming for help then the earth is flat and there is no sky. He was the one with the gun!!! Trayvon was the one who was running away from him. Zimmerman confirms Trayvon ran when he realized Zimmerman was watching him and following him, so how does that make Trayvon the aggressor?

In addition tell me of any person who has a gun on them and chases after someone after being told not to by the police forgetting that they have a deadly weapon on them. The defense’s claim is that Trayvon Martin was also armed with a deadly weapon.

Are you ready for this? What was the deadly weapon Trayvon Martin had outside of a bag of Skittles, and a can of Iced Tea he’d paid for? The sidewalk!!!! Really?!!! That alone should be enough to tell any rational and thinking person who the aggressor was.

In a light rain that night if there was blood on the pavement from where Zimmerman claims Trayvon banged his (Zimmerman’s) head on the ground shouldn’t there be photo evidence and forensic evidence collected before the blood could be “washed” away?

Asking the right questions is the key to figuring out if Zimmerman’s story even holds a scintilla of truth to it. Those heinous pictures shown in court of Trayvon’s lifeless body first face down and then rolled over were enough to churn my stomach and fill my heart with grief, compassion and sorrow for his family, while feeling nothing but contempt, and disgust for a cold, emotionless, fat fuck of a murdering bastard as he sat there stone faced. There wasn’t one instance I could see any remorse in Zimmerman’s face or body language for what he’d done.

Trayvon didn’t deserve what he got but unfortunately in this evil world we live in that doesn’t matter. My thoughts and prayers go out to Trayvon’s family and many others like his. I pray that we all see real justice served and this murdering bastard found guilty, then sentenced accordingly. JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON. America… the world is watching. GOD is watching. What are you going to do?