Jury Duty

Re Lawyer Jerome Haig’s letter (Nov. 28) concerning his client’s third strike: I recently completed a stint as a juror and was on a remarkably similar or possibly the same case. Though I have served as a juror in the past and always felt it to be a positive experience, this time I felt that I and the system did more harm than good. The client was accused of selling a minute quantity of a controlled substance. The only witness was a paid police informant, who admitted to being a drug user. Although three of us felt quite strongly that we had no abiding conviction of the defendant’s guilt, we finally caved in to the other nine who kept pressing us for a reasonable scenario of why the witness would have lied. It was only shared with us that this was a three-strikes case after it was over.

I’ve learned something unpleasant about myself through this experience--having thought myself to be a person who would stick to her principles under pressure. I’ve also learned something about the system and the three-strikes law, which I voted for.

Unfortunately these lessons do little for the poor soul I helped convict.

LINDA DAVIS

Sherman Oaks