Full Description

"This lively, original book is likely to be a milestone in America's ongoing fascination with the drama of trials and justice."
- Fred Graham, former chief anchor Court TV

Have you ever had the chance to decide the fate of another person? What would you do? In the real-life cases presented to you in this book, you will be the judge and the jury - making the ultimate decision between right and wrong.

• Can you convict an abused woman who kills her husband because she is afraid he will beat her again?
• What about a man who helps his best friend commit suicide to avoid a painful death?
• Would you allow a feeding tube to be removed from a 92-year-old coma victim so she can die peacefully?

Put yourself in the place of the judge or one of the jurors as you read the details of each case. Many of these trials raise questions that go beyond the law to the heart of one's own moral code.

At the end of each case, after rendering your own verdict, you can read on to find out what really happened.

THE CASE IS NOW IN YOUR HANDS.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Can You Believe This Witness?
State v. Gene Goodlin

2. One Bullet Pierces Two Hearts
State v. Roy Cartwright

3. Stop or I'll Shoot
State v. Armando Cosimi

4. Rape or Consensual Sex?
State v. Maurice Vernon

5. Revenge of the Batt ered Woman
State v. Maria Carvalho

6. Assisted Suicide or Murder?
State v. Stephen Sarko

7. I Won't Let Rosa Die
Elise Warner, Guardian for Rosa Moscini, v. Gunther Marx, MD

8. Does He Need Marijuana to Stay Alive?
State v. Sam Kepner

9. Death of a Bully
State v. James Alford

10. While the Children Waited in the Car
State v. Tyrone Washburn

11. Did a Father Kidnap His Daughter?
State v. Paul Storm and George McClure

12. They All Look Alike
State v. Gary Buckles

13. The Missing Murder Victim
State v. Marlon Boyd

14. Two Sheriff s Go Too Far
Caleb Peters v. County of Wheeler and Two Deputy Sheriffs, Rita Weldon, and George Marisal

15. A Jealous Husband Resorts to Violence
State v. Kurt Schaeffer

16. A Prisoner's Dilemma: Escape or Die
State v. Eddie Carter

17. A Policeman's Habit
State v. Edward Mayfield

18. Who Killed Sara Parson?
State v. Jason Tungstin

19. Once Lovers, Now Enemies
Lynn Daniels v. Alan Kaufman, MD

20. A Memory Revived
State v. Henry Barker

Appendix: Jury Instructions
About the Author

Excerpt

Introduction

Have you ever dreamed of being a judge? Have you ever been on a jury? Have you ever had the chance to decide the fate of another person by rendering a verdict of guilty or not guilty, liable or not liable? This is your chance. In the real-life cases that follow, you will be the judge, making the ultimate decision between right and wrong.

These cases are presented from the viewpoint of a juror observing the trial. The title You Be the Judge was chosen because in American jury trials, the juror is the real judge of the evidence, the one who decides with eleven other jurors whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty; in a death penalty case, whether the defendant should live or die; and, in a civil case, whether the defendant is liable, and if so, for what amount.

In 1992, Judge Ehrenfreund coauthored a book titled You’re the Jury. Now he draws upon over forty-fi ve years of experience as a trial lawyer and judge to bring readers a new work, expanding upon You’re the Jury and adding many new cases to challenge the reader’s sense of justice.

This book is based on real-life jury trials that have been shortened and slightly altered to protect the privacy of persons involved and also to protect readers from the tedium that oft en pervades the trial experience. Certain facts—including names, places, and dates—have been changed. have been shortened (in some cases omitted altogether), and there are no tedious delays for conferences between the judge and attorneys at sidebar or in chambers, no waiting in the hallway for court to begin, and no heated deliberations with other jurors who cannot understand your point of view. You will see only what the jury sees. The principal issues, however, remain the same as in the actual cases.

Many of these trials raise difficult questions because they go beyond the written law to the heart of one’s own moral code. Could you, for instance, find a father guilty of kidnapping his 24-year-old daughter from a cult he believed was poisoning her mind? Does a wife who has been repeatedly battered by her husband have the right to kill him out of fear he will beat her again? Is it murder or suicide when a man helps a close friend die in order to avoid experiencing the ravages of AIDS? Is it rape or consensual sex when a woman consents to having intercourse and then in the throes of passion insists that her partner immediately stop, but he does not comply? There are civil trials here, too—a daughter’s plea to the jury to let her 92-year-old mother die in peace, a woman’s lawsuit for one million dollars in damages against her former lover for his intentional infliction of emotional distress, and a boy’s suit against the government for violating his constitutional rights. Could you grant their wishes, based on the evidence?

Put yourself in the place of one of the twelve jurors as you listen to the details of each case. When the trial is over, you may turn to the general jury instructions in the back of the book; they present the law that applies to each case. Certain instructions of law are contained within the cases themselves. What would your verdict be? After you have made up your mind, read through the questions and answers that follow each trial, and finally, read on to see what the real jury decided.

The case is now in your hands.

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