"Guilty As Charged" - The end of the jury story.

I was summoned for Jury Duty on Thursday, March 20, 2014, excused for cause, and shared the tale of my day in a VERY SUPER LONG post on Saturday, March 22, 2014. You can read it (if you want) here: "Justice was Served - I was excused from Jury Duty for Cause." http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024708904

I was curious about how the story ended, and have been googling regularly to see if the verdict hit the local papers. (It doesn't appear to have done so.) Today I contacted the court house, and (because this is a public record), learned that the Defendant, Lonnie Walker Jr., was found guilty of all three charges. (The clerk read the charges, but basically he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14 year girl at knife point during a home invasion; the verdicts were entered on Tuesday, March 25, 2014.)

This was a news story from December of 2013 when he was arrested/denied bond: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-news/20131206/deputies-man-with-long-criminal-record-charged-with-sex-assault-on-pontiac-teen and yes, that is the man who was in the courthouse as the defendant.

For those who were moved by my compassion with the victim's father, I appreciated your kind words, but honestly, the end of that story is Very Creepy with a large "ICK!" factor - you might have noticed that the accused is "Lonnie Walker Junior" and at one point while I was trying to find out if his case had concluded, I searched the "Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry" for him. Lonnie JUNIOR did not show up, but guess who did?

His dad, Lonnie D. Walker. You can view his information here: http://www.icrimewatch.net/offenderdetails.php?OfndrID=2000438&AgencyID=55242 and let me assure you that, despite the record saying he "in prison (verified 07/05/2006)" that was the man I compassionately hugged (who hugged me back).

Yes, I am a little skeeved out by the fact I "compassionately hugged a convicted rapist" but I am reminding myself that he is a fellow human being who was having a very bad time, blah, blah, blah.

Still skeeved out.

Moral of the story: hugging strangers in the courthouse probably not the brightest move.

It also makes me feel sorry for "Junior" who frankly, doesn't seem like he had much of a chance in life. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this situation, and how he probably didn't even know how to function outside of prison, if what his father said was true about him having previously spent 14 years in prison, with the bonus of having a father who normalized the whole prison experience. No matter what measures you use - protect the innocent or rehabilitate the guilty, the system failed in epic ways, and this distresses me. I don't have any answers, but I know "something is wrong here."

Sigh.

I don't expect this post to get as many recommendations as my original one (seriously, you guys were awesome!), but I want to say again that I truly appreciated the kind words that were expressed in my original post. I am grateful DU was here to help me process the whole experience, and I hope everyone who reads this post will spare a few moments to send healing thoughts to everyone involved in the experience, especially the 14-year old victim.

In the meantime, DU.