It's interesting really. I looked at the defendant on Monday during jury selection and thought "he looks guilty as sin." I saw only his mother and presumably his sister sitting behind him on the "supportive side" of the courtroom. Occasionally they would shed tears, but it didn't change my assumtion about the guy. "He's guilty" I thought. As the trial began on Thursday, I took another look at the defendant. Still guilty. Then, over the course of the trial an amazing thing happened. While I wasn't convinced of his innocence, I became less convinced of his guilt. The state simply didn't have a case. After the closing arguments, I was sort of riding the fence, thoroughly unconvinced, that is until the judge spoke up. He explained (what I sort of knew but had forgotten) about how our legal system works. The defendant is presumed innocent. He is not required to prove his innocence. The burden of proof is on the state/prosecution. When we went into deliberations, it didn't take long. The other jurors related the same initial impressions I had, but all were led to the same conclusion. If we were assuming his innocence, it had not been proven otherwise. In about 15 minutes we decared him "not guilty."
I guess that's kind of how grace works. God assumes our innocence and the accuser no longer has a case.
AE
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