Heartless

CHAPTER 3

Michael

Only certain people wind up on a jury for a trial like this. Mothers who have kids to take care of, the accountants with deadlines, doctors attending conferences- they all get excused. Whats left are retired folks and students like me because none of us have to be any particular palace at any particular time.
Charles, our foreman was an older man who reminded me of my grandfather. Not in the way he looked or even the way he spoke but because of the gift he had if making us measure up to a task. My grandfather had been like that to because you wanted to be the best around him and there was nothing like the grin when you knew you'd impress him.
My grandfather was the reasin id been picked for this jury. Although i did not have any personal experience with murder i knew what it meant to lose someone you admire. You can never get over and done with it but rather go through the pain and for that i understood Elizabeth more han she would ever know.
    Charles waited for Mary to reapply her face, for Jake to go to the toilets and for everyone else to take a moment to breathe and settle the pressure down to act as a unified cohesive group taking an action that would determine a mans life.
   We had no idea what to do because at the beginning of the testimony the judge had given us nearly an hours worth of verbal instructions that went into one ear and out the other.
   I stood up in front of all the twelve jurors and looked at their confused faces. i wrote on the whiteboard Column A - Purpose. We first had to decide if Alex intentionally meant to kill each victim. We had already known that considering we were convicting him of murder. Column B- Factors. I began to read all my notes from the trial of what we have already acknowledged.
Defendant has already been convicted of murder once before and been convicted of three or more offences to which he has served five years of imprisonment.
Defendant has been convicted of two or more offences involving drug distribution
In the middle of the capital murder the defendant risked the potential death of someone in addition to the victims.
The defendant committed the offence in a precise and heinous and deprived manner that involved abuse and torture.
The murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding lawful arrest.

Charles stated at the board as i wrote down what i could remember."So if we find one from column A and B we have to sentence him to death?"
"No" i said "Because there is also a column C."
Column C -Mitigating factors. These were the reasons the defence gave as excuses.
     Defendant is punishable under unusual and substantial duress.
     Defendants capacity to appreciate what he was doing was wrong and immoral.
     Defendant is young but not younger than the age if 18.
    The act was done under instability of a mental disorder and emotional disturbance.
   Victim consented to the criminal conduct that resulted in death. Other factors in the defendants background mitigate against the death sentence. Underneath the columns i wrote in large letters (A+B)-C= SENTENCE.
   There were still some unsure and confused and so i explained yet again."We need to agree that Bourne intended to kill each victim when he picked up that gun. That's column A. Then we need to see whether any other aggravating factor fits from column B. Like, the youth of the victim."
     Around the table people nodded. If A + B is greater than all the things the defense said then we sentence him to death but if A + B is less than all the things the defense said then we don't.
                   1:17 P.M.

"Of course Bourne planned it. Je got a job so that he'd be near the girl. He picked this family on purpose and had access to the house." Jack said.
" He'd gone home for the day. Why else would he come back if he didn't need to be there?" Jim said.
"For the tools. He left them behind and they were his prize possessions. Remember  what that shrink said about how he stole them out of peoples garages and didn't understand why that was wrong" Maureen answered. Questions arose in my mind on what if he left it on purpose to fill out his motive. If the tools were so precious why didn't he take it with him? Seconds later we all agreed in the substantial planning involved. That was two from column B. We couldn't put into the fact that Emily was found without her pants because that wasn't being charged. It was getting a bit out of hand now. Charles asked for a show of hands in favour of the execution of Alex Bourne. "No. We still have the rest of the equation to figure out. We still have to consider column C." I said. Yet the vote hung up to 7- 5, me as part of the minority.

                      4:28 P.M.

Charles had us all write yes or no on a piece of paper. I wrote all of our names on the board and one by one we all came and wrote yes or no next to our names. I didn't realise that until now how hesitant i was on writing a simple word . As i trembled my hands took a turn into no. After long consideration and stares of me and Maureen, she jumped out of her seat and changed her vote to a yes. I then hesitantly erased my no and took the pen and rewrote it becoming the twelfth and final juror to sentence Alex Bourne to death.