Circle of Life

Last weekend we were going to visit Josh, Nikki & Eli in Buford and attend a surprise birthday party for our friend, Eddie Mayfield. Eli had a virus all week and Nikki kept him home. We drove down on Thursday night, so we could keep Eli and they could both work on Friday. We arrived after he had gone to bed, so the first time I saw him was when he woke up Friday morning. The video below is what he was wearing. It is an old little league ball uniform that Josh had worn many years ago. It won't be long until it fits him and he is stepping up to bat just like his dad. I can't believe how fast my grandchildren are growing!

Juror No. 5

I received a summons for jury duty a few weeks ago. I have been a registered voter for 38 years. I have received only 3 jury summons previously. Two, I called the night before I was to report as directed and was told they didn't need me. One, I went but when they found out my husband was a police officer, they sent me home. I was not surprised that they called me but was surprised when both the state and defense chose me. They asked my job as well as Scott's before we retired. The case was about a home invasion. The family who did not speak a lot of English were asleep in their beds, parents and two small children, when 4 men with guns kicked open their door at around 3:00 in the morning. The parents were tied up, the children were put in a closet. Both parents cried on the stand as they told how they believed they all would be killed. I can not imagine the terror of the situation, with it only compounded by the fact that these men were screaming at them and they didn't understand most of what was being said. One man, a drug addict, confessed and named the defendant in our case as being the leader. The defendant was an admitted drug dealer. Our duty was to listen to all of these people from a world that is so different from our own. Take all of the evidence and try to decide which of these unsavory people were likely to be telling the truth more than another. I felt like taking a shower each night when I got home. The case was finished and we started our deliberations on Thursday around 10:00 am. We took an inital vote and it was 6 guilty, 3 not guilty, 3 unsure. By the time they sent us home it was 9 guilty and 3 not guilty. This morning it was 10 guilty and 2 not guilty, by 11:00 it was 11 guilty and 1 not guilty. We got a chalk board and diagramed and discussed for hours. It seemed that the not guilty votes were a result of not understanding some of the testimony or evidence. Once we found out what the misunderstandings were, everyone agreed to a guilty verdict. We all talked about how uneasy we were going back to the community, many have jobs where they contact the public everyday. We knew that the defendant's family and friends were remembering our faces, checking out our cars, and just generally trying to intimidate us. It was scary, but I have done my due diligence and am very glad it is over.