Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Jury duty in a sexual assault case in Austin - capturing testimony and evidence

There will be a part 2 of this blog as the jury deliberations were an entirely different thing than actual testimony and evidence.

Part 2 will describe jury deliberations, which I will never forget :) I asked the Honorable Judge Perkins of the Austin Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center for permission to blog on my experiences on the jury and he indicated there was no problem with blogging on a trial after it had come to a close.

Had jury duty this week in Austin. It was a case of felony sexual assault - Lewis Hall as the defendent and Jean Grey (psuedonym) accuser / victim. As I learned later after being selected for jury duty.

I was not permitted to google either, after jury selection was made (~1pm 12/2) and I was sworn in as a juror. I respect our US criminal justice system and felt strongly I should do my civic duty to the best of my ability. As a person fond of OSINT to learn more, it was quite painful.

Have to admit, when I first set eyes on defendent, I kind of thought he was probably guilty for the State to take 2 years to do all the steps to prosecute Hall. Initial thought on defendant - Hall appeared sad to me, which could mean guilt. He had 2 attorneys, one of them Dan Wannamaker - likely expensive.

The evidence - trial begins 12/3/19

Opening arguments... no data, just lawyers talking. Fluff.

First witness, Jean Grey. 

Grey was stoic, clear no tears, detailed and credible testimony. Grey met Hall New Year's eve 2017 in NYC. When Grey moved to Austin she reconnected with Hall. The hung out platonically prior to the event in question. In testimony Grey described Hall as "mean", citing he had left her downtown while hanging out, and she doesn't drive.

On the day of the event, 9/9/17, Grey went to a UT football game with Hall's roommate Hon Lam (spelling?), and 2 other male friends of Hon's, one of them Daniel. Hon is Hall's roommate. After the game, Grey, Hon and Daniel apparently went to Trudy's and ate food. At some time thereafter they went to Daniel's apartment to chill before going out - Rainey Street was mentioned in testimony as their later plans.

Hall and two other men arrived at Daniel's apartment some time later. There was testimony that alcoholic shots were done.

Hon and his male friends leave at some time after that.

At some subsequent time, Hall invited Grey into the bedroom. According to Grey's testimony, she presumed it was for the purpose of Hall apologizing to Grey for mean previous behavior.

In the bedroom, Grey testified she sat on a corner of the bed. Her testimony becomes unclear to me at this point. Grey clearly states Hall said "I'm going to have sex with you". Then Grey said she kissed Hall back. The timeline is unclear as to when the kissing back occurred. Subsequent testimony by Grey was Hall forced Grey down on the bed and at the same time undressed himself, unwrapped and put a condom on his penis, while holding her down.

They had sex - prosecutor and defense attorney agree on that, although the former termed it rape, as did Grey. Grey in testimony indicated she felt smothered, hurt - and wanted to escape. This event was at approximately 9pm on 9/9/17 according to the patrol officer's report later.

Grey testified she found the sex  painful and said so to Hall. Hall agreed to reposition so that Grey was on top in the intercourse.

Grey, after some time of being on top (we don't know - many jurors were uncomfortable with the timeline according to evidence presented). Testimony by Grey indicates Hall did not ejaculate. Hall permitted Grey to leave the bedroom.

Hall and Grey exit the bedroom of Daniel's apartment,to find they were alone in Daniel's apartment.

Instead of calling an Uber, Grey chose to go back to Hall's apartment, 2 doors down, citing the neighborhood as too dangerous to wait for the Uber..

Grey testified Hall threw her phone, but later willingly gave the phone back to her. The timeline on when this occurred is unclear.

Hall and Grey spent approximately 45 minutes at Hall's apartment after these event described as traumatic sexual assault by Grey's testimony.

Grey testified Hall attempted to penetrate her via a finger during this timeframe at Hall's apartment.

Unclear timeline, but it appears Grey, reunited with her phone, began a long text thread presented in evidence with her best friend Myra. First text to Myra: "I just had angry sex" with some emojis. Later Myra texts back, "how was it?" Grey texts back "Eh" The entire text string I cannot replicate by memory, and was not allowed to take evidence. But to me the gist was Grey was either processing a rape, or more likely, seeking the approval of her best friend Myra.

Bottom line: text string in evidence went from ~"sex was eh", and "hahaha" and other back and forth between Grey and Myra to a weird jump. Myra testified she had a phone conversation with Grey between the text string. Grey in her prior testimony denied any phone conversation.

Myra, with a previous sexual assault university course, indicated strongly that Grey needed to get a rape kit done.

Grey takes an Uber home sometime after 9:48 pm according to text evidence.

Myra keeps Grey on the phone for over an hour while Myra drives to Grey's house.

Myra and Grey go to a SAFE house in Austin  - approximately 11:30 pm arrival.

At SAFE house, Grey is interviewed by APD police officer Edwards and is examined by nurse Amanda B (forget last name), who both testified later in the trial.

5+ hours of time are spent by Grey and Myra at SAFE.

Testimony as to Grey's experience at SAFE is ambiguous. Amanda B, the nurse, indicated Grey was calm; numb. Testimony from Myra indicates screaming by Grey and intense pain. Amanda B testimony indicates Grey had discomfort only. Evidence presented at trial on Grey's detailed evaluation indicates very minor injuries. 

At ~5:30 AM 9/10/17 Grey and Myra go back to Grey's home. Myra stay's at Grey's home for a week, according to testimony.

Judge lets jurors go home after all testimony and evidence 12/3/19

What happened 12/4/19

Prosecutor made a first statement at the Judge's request.. Followed by defense attorney's close, followed by prosecutor's close. Prosecutor's key focus was "no-means-no and consent". Defense oddly didn't focus on reasonable doubt but rather portrayed Jean as a victim of Myra - pardon the paraphrasing - creating drama by introducing the concept that this was a rape, rather than a regrettable sexual encounter.

Jury deliberations

Here's where it gets weird. I'll finish the rest tomorrow night after work, but I know how memory works, and I really wanted to capture the evidence as I saw it. My account of deliberation prroceedings will be more subjective - my opinion. The information accounted above is my recollection of the information presented in evidence in court as a juror in this case 12/3/19, while it is fresh in my mind.
















1 comment:

  1. I've heard the defendant has gotten a lower plea with just probation.

    ReplyDelete