Jury Duty!

I was called to jury duty for the fourth time this week. However unlike the past three times this time I had the opportunity to serve in a criminal case. The case that I was assigned was a rape. It was very interesting to say the least. Unlike the 8 other jurors that were on the trail I went in thinking this could go either way I wasn't leaning toward guilty or not guilty. The jury consisted of 3 men and 6 women. I was the youngest. In the end we asked each other what our initial thought was before we heard everything, the men and one of the women thought he was guilty going in and then the rest of us didn't have an opinion either way yet. By the end of the first day I still wasn't sure whether the guy was guilty or not. Then on the second day as we heard the rest of the evidence I knew that something had happened how ever the question in my head was whether it was consensual or not whether it happened or not. Then on the last day as we deliberated and got to see the evidence much closer I wasn't convinced that there was with out a doubt that he was guilty and neither was the rest of the jury. After 3 hours of deliberation we came back with the verdict of not guilty. I felt bad for the girl however I wasn't fully convinced that it was unconsensual. I could tell that the girls family wasn't happy with the verdict but I am a firm believer that it is better to set one guilty person free then to send one innocent person to jail. All and all I had a really good experience and would love to serve on a criminal case again. I feel that the justice system really does work and that we are very lucky to live in a place that we are innocent until proven guilty.