The police found a kid wandering on main street. He is drunk and high. He's beat up pretty good, but can't say how it happened. They take him into custody.
Later they discover a car wreck. The owner of the vehicle is dead underneath it. Another kid was found nearby with minor injuries.
The police assumed the kid they had in custody was driving. They started interrogating him, despite the fact that he had been drinking and doing Xanax. They get a confession. Some of the details he provided lined up with evidence. They also found his blood on the airbag.
Both survivors and other kids that were at the party suffer memory loss well into the next day. The defendant doesn't remember the interview or confession.
The problem is that in his confession, he also gave details that didn't line up. He said there was a fourth kid in the car when there wasn't. The other survivor said that the deceased was driving, but his story is inconsistent too. The interrogation felt like the officer was taking advantage of the kids disorientation and grief over the death of his friend. Pictures were taken during the interrogation, but for some reason the police didn't save them. Despite several splotches of blood on the airbag, we were told that only one was tested. There was blood on the seat and armrest that also was not tested. The deceased had been wrestling with his shirt off at the party and could have sustained minor scrapes and cuts there. Blood was found at the campsite, but not tested. The blood on the seat and armrest resembled some of the scrapes shown on the autopsy photos.
There was too much doubt in the prosecution's case. We all voted not guilty.
Nathan Tyree (Overwhelmed by existential angst) says:
It sounds to me like you did the right thing. based on the information you have provided, there is too much air in the prosecution's narrative. Reasonable doubt, indeed. So, um, I'm guessing the comment thread on the article was unpleasant?
Yeah. The news site leaned heavily on the prosecutions case. So we were a stupid jury. I could handle that. Then the family of the deceased started posting. I still think we made the right decision, but reading that was depressing.