"The members of Alcotone seem to posses an uncanny inability to restrain themselves from delving into places that their peers dare not go. But when Alcotone goes somewhere, I want to buy a timeshare there and have a barbeque for all of my friends."

11 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Modern Rock



Details:
âIll winds mark its fearsome flight,
And autumn branches creak with fright.
The landscape turns to ashen crumbs,
When something wicked this way comes.â

A jury summons is not something you look forward to; some may embrace it and proudly participate in our democratic union. But most, I feel, see it as an intrusion into their lives; not something they could do right now but certainly something they would like to do in the future. But I beg you not to delay if you receive a notice. Serve. Your future may depend on it.
I say this because when you are selected to a jury you learn a very valuable lesson, which is the instruction from the judge on the definition of reasonable doubt. It is the detail of this instruction we use to analyze the evidence of a crime and come to a logical conclusion, free from prejudice, and simply, free of emotion.
Innocent until proven guilty is the cornerstone of our judicial system. The burden of proof does lie with the accuser; the accused may simply sit quietly and never answer the charge. A judgment must be made solely on the evidence submitted.
But evidence of guilt in some crimes is spread over time with crucial documents destroyed or hidden and witnesses lost or silenced. Sometimes there is no smoking gun, no DNA, no witness. Sometimes itâs not âOne man with a hat shooting another man with a hat.â Sometimes itâs far more complicated.
But, if the case for the prosecution is cohesive and the evidence, albeit circumstantial, is substantial, a judge would instruct you to follow that line of evidences and determine if you can connect the dots. You are even instructed, by the judge, that evidence cannot be perfect. There can't always be a fingerprint or a blood sample that matched the DNA of the suspect. Most importantly you may never know the motive for their crime.
In many cases it is simply a preponderance of circumstantial evidence that when compiled and examined without prejudice, and with the use of science and logic will easily lead to a conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It's with this opportunity, this maxim of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt that to the best of our ability we free the innocent and incarcerate the guilty.