In 2008 I reported to jury duty for the first time. When that summons comes in the mail, most people are annoyed at the inconvenience, but for me I was elated. I was praying to be selected for a juicy criminal case.
I shuffled into the courtroom for the “voir dire” process (an old French word for “truth“), in which both the prosecutor and the defendant’s counsel asks each potential juror questions to decide whether or not they want them on the jury. In this first phase of voir dire, each side is entitled to what is called a peremptory challenge, a complete strategic move, in which either side can excuse a juror without giving a reason.
When I found out the case was a felony trial my interest peaked. When I was told that it was a cold case for murder and rape dating back to 1985, I put on my poker face! I promised myself that if I was picked I would stay impartial during the proceedings, taking in all the facts and circumstances while making my decision of innocence or guilt.
Then the shady looking defense attorney approached me.
Defense Attorney: Michelle…what do you do for a living?
Me: I’m a paralegal and a true crime writer. I also work with missing person’s families.
Defense Attorney: So, do you have anything published in regards to this crime writing?
Me: I have two blogs and other outlets where I write.
Defense Attorney: How do you get your information?
Me: The internet. Databases. Sometimes talking to victim’s families. It depends on what I’m writing.
Defense Attorney: What do you think of DNA evidence? Do you find it credible?
(Inside my head: Seriously…what planet was he living on? Did he think I was ignorant? As if I was uninformed of modern science?)
Me: I absolutely believe in DNA evidence and its credibility.
I was finished. At the time I had 10+ years in the legal field; but I was “pro-DNA”, and a true crime writer to boot. After 5 minutes of silence, I heard the judge calling out names. All the women in the front row next to me started to jump out of their chairs. Then I hear, “Michelle Thank you for your service.” I asked the woman next to me, “Does this mean we’re done? Did I get booted?”
My chair was closest to the deputy prosecutor and when I stood up to leave we locked eyes. She gestured with her face a frown screaming in disappointment. Let’s face it. I am a prosecutor’s dream juror.
As I left the courthouse I couldn’t get that man's face out of my mind. The entire time I sat across from him I purposely stared him down. I was playing that childhood game to see who will blink or look away first. My eyes were fixated on him, trying to intimidate him and reveal his weakness without his counsel noticing.
I won the stare down contest. Every time he looked at me and saw my icy stare, his eyes became shifty and then looked away nervously. I saw into the depths of those cold eyes and I saw a monster. I had no information on the facts, I did not know him, I had no knowledge of this murder; yet, he reeked of evil.
When I got home I immediately jumped on the internet. Ethically speaking, it would have been wrong for me to be a juror. But I won’t lie when I say that I wish I could have been on this jury.
Especially after I read the background of the case.
This piece of human garbage was going to be decided by 12 other people. The day the verdict was read I was thankful to the “reasonable” jurors who sent this monster away forever.
STATE OF INDIANA V. JIMMY ATTEBERRY
In 1985 19-year old Lisa Lightfoot left her Indianapolis, Indiana apartment to go to a convenience store. When she did not come home her boyfriend, who lived with Lisa, called the police to report she was missing.
Lisa’s brother stated that he searched for her vehicle and found her lifeless body abandoned in an alley near railroad tracks. She had been stabbed twice in the chest, once on each breast, which caused her to bleed into her lungs. She had also been strangled so that her larynx was flattened and the muscles behind her esophagus had been crushed against her spine. Her fingernails were torn in self-defense of her attacker. Her fatal injury was the result of repeated blows to her head from a concrete block which the police found broken into pieces in the alley. The blows from the block crushed Lisa’s skull and eye socket. Further examination revealed that she was pregnant at the time of her murder and was raped during the attack.
Police considered Atteberry a person of interest in the initial investigation. He had lived in the same apartment complex as Lisa, but in 1985 DNA evidence was not available. There were few leads and Lisa’s case went into the cold case files.
In October 2006, Indianapolis police collected DNA from the semen stains found in Lisa’s underwear and it matched with Jimmy Atteberry. He was living in St. Louis, Missouri on a work release program from other rapes he committed in Illinois and Missouri. When asked about Indiana, Atteberry admitted that he had worked at the Salvation Army in Indianapolis during the summer months of 1985.
The jury found Atteberry guilty as charged and was sentenced to 60 years for his conviction for murder and to 50 years for his conviction for rape.
(Source) https://caselaw.findlaw.com/in-court-of-appeals/1399315.html
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