Looooong time... Hi everyone.
Ok, well I was picked to serve on a jury in a murder trial beginning of February. I was freaking out bc my husband & I had a Disney vacay surprise already paid for for our son turning 11 the end of Feb, was afraid it would ruin our birthday present to him. I learned so much from this trial. The most important fact that I learned is that le obtained cell, landline & work records right away of the suspect & the suspects closest affiliates. The tower readings alone spoke volumes. This person was named a poi, then subsequently a suspect, rather quickly. Personally I thought he had an accomplice, but we could only talk & rule on evidence presented. Several of us were torn, yet there was no doubt the guy was guilty...only doubt in what the prosecution was able to prove with the evidence admitted into court (the level of the crime). 1 of the jurors was dismissed bc he had a prior engagement in the Army. Then something happened - somebody related to one of the main witnesses (the suspect's baby mama) called my home phone. I thought it was my best friend as I saw the last name on my caller id, but I was mistaken. I let it go but then I searched that # on google & it brought up links to the town next to me, yet the # was a MD # & I live in NJ. Then it hit me, I found a link. The witness linked is from the town next to me, the call was deliberate - meant to intimidate me. I asked to speak with the judge first thing the next morning, was very afraid bc my home & family were compromised...at least imo. The judge called me into the court room from deliberation, swore me in, had me take the stand, then requested me to explain what happened --- in front of the prosecution as well as the defense, the suspect too! I was bawling my eyes out with fear. It was extremely scary. I explained how I found the link just googling that "wrong #" & it was a definite, not a maybe. I provided links, etc. then the judge asked me some questions about other jurors. He asked me if any electronic devices were used in deliberation. I didn't realize this but he was going to question everyone, I just happened to be the first bc I requested to speak with him about the phone call I got to my home phone. Well I told him the truth...that one person was going to turn on her Kindle but was stopped, & another person looked at the day of the week the murder fell on via her cell. Well that happens to be why he was questioning everyone, I had no idea, and in hindsight I think a tip was called in by somebody fighting for the suspect in the hope that they could get the jury thrown out. A mistrial was declared bc there weren't enough jurors left as the 2 using electronics would have been dismissed & my personal info was compromised, plus the other juror that was dismissed for the Army. One of my very good friends works for the prosecutors office and he's investigated my claim, took all the evidence from my phone, etc. they have to investigate all of the potential jurors that were in the courtroom when I was being interviewed. That's alot of people. The suspect is still in jail and he's being tried again. I have no doubt that the next time the jurors will be sequestered and electronic devices will be barred from all jurors and potential jurors, etc. Again, evidence points to the suspect being guilty but not everything was made public.
So, considering what I just experienced, for the police to name Dale as the prime suspect in Michelle's disappearance, to officially go on record in the media to say that, I truly believe they have intel to back up that official opinion. When I consider that Dale hasn't been charged yet with Michelle's disappearance, but compare it to the murder trial I sat on a couple months ago, I understand now why le can't just charge based on what they have - they most likely are holding out for a body. I look at the craziness during deliberation in a case where there was a body and that was hard enough, let alone not having a body... Circumstantial evidence can go either way no matter how strong it is, but a body helps to nail a conviction.
I know one thing, duty or not - it'll be a very long time before I want to serve on a jury again. I still won't open my windows and won't let my 11 y/o play outside by himself now...totally freaked out.