Almost a Juror in the Dominick Calhoun Case

I found a seat in the crowded room and glanced down at the questionnaire; I saw one name, and my stomach dropped. 

I am not a lucky person. I rarely win anything, although I consider myself an “Even Stephen,” which I think is better than having bad luck. However, when it comes to jury duty, the luck of the draw is with me. 

The third day of juror interviews is set to continue Tuesday in the murder trial of the 4-year-old Argentine boy, The Flint Journal reports. And I'm glad I'm not involved. I nearly was after receiving a jury-duty notice. I do not have the stomach and have too many connections to endure a trial, so fortunately for me, I was dismissed.

Potential jurors for court cases are chosen from a jury pool generated by random selection of citizens' names from lists of registered voters, or people with driver's licenses, in the judicial district.  

Since I have turned 18, the legal age to be considered for jury duty, I have been selected at least five times for this civic duty. Many people go their entire lives without being selected for jury duty. My name seems to beat the odds of probability in this selection of candidates, but not for contests, raffles or lotteries. 

Out of the handful of times I have received the notice, twice I have been required to show up to the Genesee District Courthouse to continue with the jury-selection process. I do not recall the exact specifics of the first time this occurred, but I was not selected to serve on the jury. 

I will be honest—I have no desire to serve on a jury. I value my freedom and make an effort to never take it for granted, and I am eternally grateful for those who serve our country in any capacity. I understand that it is my civic duty to appear when summoned, but there is nothing in me which desires to judge another person and issue punishment for criminal actions. I find the entire situation stressful. 

Needless to say, I was very disappointed on Wednesday night to learn that my panel had been selected to report to the courthouse on Thursday morning. Little did I know, the stress of the situation was going to reach a entirely new level. 

Dominick Calhoun. 

I knew the name, I knew the case. I worked at the Tri-County Times when the story broke that the Argentine boy had died after being beaten over several days. My hands started to shake as I looked around at the room literally full of randomly selected strangers. I felt as if everyone should be observing a moment of silence. This was a shock to me. 

Not only did I get selected for jury duty, but it was this case? No one wants these types of things to happen, and I am sure no one wants to sit through these court cases. I knew I was not strong enough to be one of the jurors selected to sit through this trial. 

Two years ago my friends lost a small child due to a medical cause. It was the hardest thing I have ever been through. I loved that little boy with my entire heart. The idea of a life, especially a small life, being taken intentionally by another human being is something I cannot comprehend. I do not understand looking at a tiny face and finding the child deserving of any type of violence. The idea of sitting through this trial and experiencing all of the graphic details was unfathomable to me. 

I knew there was a good chance I would be dismissed, as I was fully aware of the details of the case. I also have a personal connection to one of the people present at the hospital when Dominick was brought in. It was a very long two-hour wait until they announced there would be some immediate dismissals. I heard my name called out as one of jurors released from any further questioning. 

As I walked out of the courthouse, I felt relief but also great sadness that one life ended before it really had a chance to begin and that we live in a world where these acts of violence occur too often. I also felt guilty at my sense of relief. I got to walk away from being involved in this case. The people who loved Dominick have a difficult trial to go through and an entire lifetime of missing a little boy. The jurors selected for this case have the responsibility of determining the fate of those involved. 

My thoughts are with everyone involved in this case. Thank you to the jurors, who will do what I could not. To Dominick’s family, I am so sorry for your loss. You have experienced a pain that no one should. I hope the outcome of the trial is able to help in your healing process.