Monday, July 02, 2012

Civic Duties

Finally, I can bring up what I've been involved with over the past week.  A TRIAL.  And, it was as much like what you see on television as lizards are like apples.  The victim and the accused in this case were roughly the same age, but had very different life choices.  Which is kinda why one of them will likely spend the rest of their lives in prison.

This case involved guns, stolen cars, crimes committed in four different jurisdictions, and violence.  And, it was the first of several trials this particular accused will be facing.  Just after a series of guilty verdicts were announced, we were treated to a hearing about how this accused committed this particular set of crimes while out on bond for still other crimes.  And, apparently those crimes were committed while he was out on bond on yet other crimes.  A rabbit hole of criminal activities.

I've watched lots of television coverage of notorious trials.  I lost nearly a summer to the murder trial of the author Mike Peterson.  I use to watch court tv like other kids watched mtv.  But, I still wasn't prepared for the butt-numbing boring factor.  At least there were plenty of breaks in the action to keep everyone awake.

At the end of it all, I'm still pretty amazed that the really complex system, with so many differing parts, actually works.

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