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The Queen (aka "mrsmuir") SWBB
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After sentencing Tim Jones to death, jurors still shaken, haunted by child murders (with clip)
SEPTEMBER 29, 2019
"Three months after one of South Carolina’s most bone-chilling trials — the death penalty case of a Lexington County father who killed his five, young children — jurors remain haunted by what they saw and heard.
“I think about it every day,” said a 52-year-old woman with the initials, L.A., who served as an alternate juror until being excused near the trial’s end. “Many times during the trial, I went in the jurors’ bathroom and just wailed – cried my eyes out.”...
Since then, nine of the 18-member jury panel have spoken to The State Media Co. about their life-changing experience. The trial left some traumatized, some seeking counseling — and all of them bonded to one another in a way that’s hard for outsiders to understand. At least one juror now has a small tattoo memorializing the children, jurors said.
They did not want their names used for this article. Some feared retaliation from Jones’ allies, while others just wanted to be left alone for what was for them a shattering experience. The State has instead used their initials, nicknames and juror numbers.
Each was affected differently....
‘SECONDARY TRAUMA’
The idea that jurors’ mental health can suffer by hearing horrific testimony is not new to Dawn McQuiston, a psychology professor at Wofford College in Spartanburg.
It is called “secondary trauma,” McQuiston said, meaning that people who sit on traumatic cases, such as those involving child killings, can need counseling themselves. Such stress is akin to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and can involve symptoms such as sudden crying, nightmares, anxiety and depression.
“The people typically selected for jurors — they’ve never seen or heard such graphic details before. You can only imagine the shock to their system,” McQuiston said....
HOW THEY COPED
Jurors were under orders not to discuss the trial as it went on. Not with their families. Not with each other.
That was frustrating, jurors said. They could not talk about the one thing they had in common – the horror unfolding before their eyes.
To relieve the pressure, some jurors during breaks went in the bathroom adjoining the jury room and closed the door.
“You could hear them sobbing through the walls,” one juror said. “And after some testimony, walking back to the jury room, you’re teared – you’re teared.”...
KEY EVIDENCE
Jurors had two major decisions: Was Jones sane? Did he deserve death? Yes, they said to both.
Jurors stressed their decisions were based on the facts of the case and their common sense.
They said key evidence included:...
The USC School of Medicine juror said, “We didn’t give Tim Jones Jr. the death penalty — he earned it.”"
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article235307687.html
BBM So true..
SEPTEMBER 29, 2019
"Three months after one of South Carolina’s most bone-chilling trials — the death penalty case of a Lexington County father who killed his five, young children — jurors remain haunted by what they saw and heard.
“I think about it every day,” said a 52-year-old woman with the initials, L.A., who served as an alternate juror until being excused near the trial’s end. “Many times during the trial, I went in the jurors’ bathroom and just wailed – cried my eyes out.”...
Since then, nine of the 18-member jury panel have spoken to The State Media Co. about their life-changing experience. The trial left some traumatized, some seeking counseling — and all of them bonded to one another in a way that’s hard for outsiders to understand. At least one juror now has a small tattoo memorializing the children, jurors said.
They did not want their names used for this article. Some feared retaliation from Jones’ allies, while others just wanted to be left alone for what was for them a shattering experience. The State has instead used their initials, nicknames and juror numbers.
Each was affected differently....
‘SECONDARY TRAUMA’
The idea that jurors’ mental health can suffer by hearing horrific testimony is not new to Dawn McQuiston, a psychology professor at Wofford College in Spartanburg.
It is called “secondary trauma,” McQuiston said, meaning that people who sit on traumatic cases, such as those involving child killings, can need counseling themselves. Such stress is akin to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and can involve symptoms such as sudden crying, nightmares, anxiety and depression.
“The people typically selected for jurors — they’ve never seen or heard such graphic details before. You can only imagine the shock to their system,” McQuiston said....
HOW THEY COPED
Jurors were under orders not to discuss the trial as it went on. Not with their families. Not with each other.
That was frustrating, jurors said. They could not talk about the one thing they had in common – the horror unfolding before their eyes.
To relieve the pressure, some jurors during breaks went in the bathroom adjoining the jury room and closed the door.
“You could hear them sobbing through the walls,” one juror said. “And after some testimony, walking back to the jury room, you’re teared – you’re teared.”...
KEY EVIDENCE
Jurors had two major decisions: Was Jones sane? Did he deserve death? Yes, they said to both.
Jurors stressed their decisions were based on the facts of the case and their common sense.
They said key evidence included:...
The USC School of Medicine juror said, “We didn’t give Tim Jones Jr. the death penalty — he earned it.”"
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article235307687.html
BBM So true..
