The Weights of Justice Balance

A court officer carries a deed to the jury, the face poised to deliver a neutral statement on the qualification for evidence. The jurors stay firm in their seats. The lawyers ready the arguments.

Discovering the Qualifying Evidence

With careful observation, the prosecutor classifies the documents on the desk, rejected or relevant. The goal is to cover his case entirely, but close off the unproductive investigative trails. On the same day, defense counsel searches through arrest reports looking for the last example of innocent words that has escaped his notice.

The gambler, fearing the worst, had sold his house. The prosecution presented stacks of receipts showing debt payments to the casino treasury. The papers showed a habit of losing money. Defense counsel countered by putting together a set of bank account records that displayed a consistent month ending balance. No deductions due to debt?

Hearing The Reasons on Both Sides

Arranged at two tables, the lawyers giver their best reports on the merits of their case. Each must demonstrate certain facts support their take on the case. Justice hangs over the courtroom, holding the two close to a halfway point and keeping each within bounds. With courage, the prosecution justifies the accusation of guilt, and the defense counsel carefully reveals every uncertainty.

Attorney for the city, Mike Pistol, offered the explanation that the gamblers rash poker bets lost him property, not bank account funds. The bottom line is the gambler failed to protect his assets. Dave Means, public defender since 1974, listed every expense and payment during the last 3 years. He carefully noted two things. The gambler bought a new house in the same class, and the debts accounted for no more than 5 percent of income in a month, an amount many men put aside for their own private uses.

Assembling The Indispensable Parts of The Case

The evidence that stands to reason remains before the court. Charged with the responsibility to resolve all doubts, the judge loyally lays the facts that fully develop the case before the jury. He instructs the jury they must be convinced before reaching a verdict. He calls upon the members to look at each piece with due consideration for how the fact bears upon the truth of guilt or innocence.

Pistol arranged the casino treasury bills and bond sale records, each dated. Means brought his case to rest by laying out the salary payment stubs for each month, and documents that prove each inheritance the gambler had 3 years ago he still had on that day. Judge Pew accepts the bills, the stubs and the inheritance documents and tells the jury to consider the relevance of each piece of evidence to the charge that the gambler wagered more than he could afford.

Weighing The Convincing Judgments on Fact

With honor, the jury regards each element of the case. The inconsistent facts are disregarded. Attentive to the line that divides guilt and a reasonable doubt, the jury judges the whole set of facts. Always fixed on the heart of the case, each member turns over the evidence in their mind until reaching a certain judgment. The jury, as a body, deliberates upon the justified grounds for a verdict.

Foreman Long handles the facts review for the members. The members discuss the case, specifying agreements and doubts. Long places before him, on his left, a paper with the judgments by the body supporting guilt, the highest gambling debt at the casino, and on his right, a paper with the judgments supporting a reasonable doubt, steady money management for accounts and family property.

The jurors fairly consider the possibilities of a man of limited means who exceeds these means and a wealthy man who gambles for his leisure.

The competing interests balance. Clarity is needed for a single judgment. The jurors dedicate their time to forming a uniform opinion on which weight tips the scales. Did the gambler stretch his dollars too far?

Source:

Black's Law Dictionary, Seventh Edition (1999)

Read the other 3 articles in the 4 part series:

American Justice for Crime I: The Truth In a Crime
American Justice for Crime II: A Just Cause is Blind
American Justice for Crime IV: A Right Judgment, with the Might of the Sentence