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DUI Juror Responsibilities

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Injustices always will occur. You, the reader, however, can help to put a curb to these abuses right now. First, as a juror, remember a police officer has done his job when he arrests a person for “mere suspicion” of DUI. Your standard as a juror is completely different. Your job is to determine the truth, “beyond a reasonable doubt,” based on testimony and specific evidence you hear during the trial. You should demand to see a written alphabet test and audio/video tapes of the person who was drinking depicting their condition as close in time to the time of driving as possible. Consider evidence of impairment taken 30 minutes or more after the accused was removed from his vehicle as not relevant in determining the alcohol level at the time of driving. And if some police officers are so arrogant they expect you to take only their word without some independent corroboration, reject the unsupported testimony of the officer.

If that is done often enough, you will see cleaner, more professional police work.

Secondly, stick to your guns as a juror. We paid a dear price for our constitutional rights. Many courageous young men and women have died on pieces of real estate all over the globe so each of our rights would be preserved and to protect us from an oppressive government. And one of the most important of these rights is that it takes a unanimous verdict by all 12 jurors to convict an individual of a crime. If you, as a juror, go along with a guilty verdict only because 11 others feel the accused is guilty and pressure you to agree, then you also are guilty of not following the law.

More importantly, you have let down those who have sacrificed their lives so others could be free. In other words, if you are the lone juror and you are not convinced “beyond a reasonable doubt,” it is your legal and moral duty to hold out and not give in.

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