When you're on a jury, you have the freedom to look around the room at anyone or anything at any time. When the lawyers were speaking, you could look at the judge or the defendant.
The accused was on trial for attempted murder.
During the course of the trial (two full days), seven witnesses testified, including several police officers, a prisoner, and the young man who was shot and full of scars.
Cobb's character then talks about being on many juries before. In our group, we also had some veteran jurors. Most of us, though, were first-timers.
To break the awkward silence, I tried to find things in common with other people just like one of the jurors does in 12 Angry Men. It was a cramped space, and uncomfortable. The jury room in the movie was much larger than the one we were put into! Also in the movie, Jack Warden's character was so anxious to get out of the jury room and go home. That was how just about all of us felt! We all wanted to go home. Some people had an hour commute to the courthouse.
Another part of the movie that rang true was when Lee J. Cobb said how some of the lawyers went on and on talking "about nothing". Honestly, that's what it really felt like! Some of the lawyers just talked and talked and it was all seemed meaningless, certainly a waste of time. At one point, one of the witnesses - a police officer - got so aggravated at the questioning from one of the lawyers. And public defenders kept asking the judge for time-outs, which meant more waiting for us, the jury.
I took lots of notes. The prosecuting attorneys brought forth some very good evidence. Four eyewitnesses all pointed to the defendant as the shooter. This appeared to be an "open-and-shut case", as Lee J Cobb referred to his case in the movie.
At times I got the feeling that the public defenders didn't always know how to defend him. This issue was touched upon in the movie, too.
Believe it or not, the initial vote was 11-1 in favor of "guilty" ..just like the movie! No, it wasn't me who was the odd-man out, like Henry Fonda. It was the youngest person on jury. After about 25 minutes of deliberation, we all voted again, and unanimously agreed the defendant was "guilty" of attempted murder.
When the verdict was read in court, there was a loud scream from the visitor's section, which might have been the defendant's mother. There was also some clapping and cheering by some other people. It was eerie to hear that in real life (vs. on TV or in the movies).
When the trial ended, it was past 6 PM. And dark outside.
The jurors were given a police escort out of the courthouse to our cars in the parking lot.
After spending three days with all the other jurors, it was kind of a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye.
One of the men in our group was a recent immigrant from the Philippines; he became a citizen just two years ago, and now he and his wife are raising a family. I recommended he watch 12 Angry Men, and told him how much it was like our jury, with one major difference being that we couldn't smoke in our jury room.
Eventually we all parted ways, never to see each other again, just like the end of the movie.
