Article May 20, 2002 Issue

Justice could be better served

By S. H. Clay

According to this experienced corrections system chaplain, it will take a reformation of hearts to bring true reform to any justice system. The case in question is still under appeal. For the chaplain's own safety, the city and state where the trial was held are not disclosed.

I sat in the courtroom for eight days. I watched the impassive faces of 12 jurors, who were asked to discern truth from falsehood as one witness after another testified in a capital murder trial. Their verdict would rest solely on which argument the jurors believed, because no physical evidence was presented to prove the killer's identity.

The defendant insisted he had been nowhere near the crime scene. His main accuser dubbed himself a reluctant accomplice in a robbery-turned-murder. Another witness, a jailhouse informant, claimed the defendant had bragged to him about doing the killing. After more than eight hours of deliberation, the jury gave its verdict: guilty of first degree murder. The judge imposed a sentence of life in prison. Case closed and justice served.