Sunday, May 15, 2011

He was found not guilty

As you know last week was the trial.  It was Monday and it took most of the day.  After the trial I was exhausted and depressed, and that's why it has taken me so long to post the results.

What happened Monday was that we went in and waited a bit.  My parents had gotten their early and seen my uncle come in with my aunt, grandmother, and his wife.  I wasn't expecting my aunt to be there, and this upset me a bit.  What I was the most unprepared for was seeing my grandma there, I knew she would be, but actually seeing her there was pretty painful.

So, first was jury selection, and the ADA wanted me to be in the room so she could introduce me and make sure none of the potential jurors knew me.  That was a bit uncomfortable because as I said above my grandmother and aunt were sitting right there, actually two rows in front of me.  I did however have my parents, my boyfriend, and my boyfriend's mom with me to support me though.  After introductions, they asked if any of the jurors knew any of us, and then they asked if any of the jurors felt they could not be impartial in a case like this, involving child sexual assault.  Three women went up, explained to the judge that they had been abused themselves, and were excused visibly upset.  Next they did Voir Dire, which is having the potential jurors leave the room and come in one at a time for individual interviews.  I felt uncomfortable sitting in the courtroom, so my supporters and I went back into the conference room that they were keeping me in so I wouldn't have to see the defendant.

This is a bit hard for me to write and re live at the moment so I'm going to continue tomorrow.  TBC...

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Tomorrow is the trial

I'm scared.  I don't want to have to testify, but I will.  I want justice, and I'm worried about how I'll feel if I don't receive it.  Just being brave enough to say what he did to me in front of him and everyone in the courtroom will be worthwhile though, just to show myself I can do it.  He can't scare me into silence any more.