The decision of a juror over the guilt or innocence of the accused is a very difficult choice and an important responsibility. Had I been an actual juror in the Terry Martin case, I would have definitely found the accused not guilty of all charges, for several reasons. .
Firstly, I would have found the defendant not guilty because of my bias. As a high school student, I am an advocate of student rights as well as for civil liberties in general. I am most definitely in favor that the right to privacy of students and other their other rights be kept intact. In the case of Terry Martin, I found that searching his locker without him present was in direct violation of his rights as a student. Of course, I would have likely been excluded from the jury because of this, but had I been a juror this would have had a major impact on my decision.
Another factor in my decision of not guilty was the presentation of the case by the defense. I felt that the defense presented a stronger case with stronger evidence, reasoning, and witnesses. The presentation of the symptoms of marijuana use as being flushed faces, dilated pupils, and slurred speech as being concurrent with the symptoms of stress and lack of rest was particularly convincing to me. I found it easy to accept that an exhausted student could be mistaken for a drug user. I also thought that Terry Martin was not necessarily involved in the transaction just because he was friends with some students identified, and his being friends with Jan Thompson did not necessarily mean he had drugs in his locker. I also thought the prosecution gave a much weaker closing statement than the defense. While the defense gave a detailed, well delivered closing statement, the prosecution's was brief and not as convincing. .
Another reason I did not think the locker search was acceptable was I did not believe the situation was an immediate emergency. While two students had died off campus from drug overdose recently, any drugs within the locker could not have been accessed without Terry Martin first opening the locker himself, therefore, I had a hard time seeing the necessity to open the locker without him present.
