Smash Notes
A juror's reflections on the death penalty | Lindy Lou Isonhood
Lindy Lou Isonhood grew up in a town where the death penalty was a fact of life, part of the unspoken culture. But after she served as a juror in a capital murder trial -- and voted "yes" to sentencing a guilty man to death -- something inside her changed. In this engaging and personal talk, Isonhood reflects on the question she's been asking herself in…
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Notes
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She said how she couldn't go to her family, after not seeing them for a week, and pretend to be happy. She says not even their love and support could help her at that time as she helped sentence a man to death.
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In Mississippi, Isonhood states that it’s like an unspoken culture. The basic logic is if a person murders someone, then they will receive the death penalty.
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At first, she saw the murderer as a monster. Then, she saw him as a human being. She then began to question herself if she wanted to give the man the death penalty.
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They were supposed to be the tool to reach a verdict, which only lead to the death penalty. Her head and heart were in conflict with one another. She followed along with the instructions and gave up. Isonhood states that this is the broken judicial system at work.
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In her TED Talk, Lindy Lou Isonhood describes the Mississippi capital case in which she and the other eleven jurors voted for death. In her car afterward, ordinary life, kids, work, church, and ballgames, felt unreal. She says she went down a rabbit hole. Anger, anxiety, guilt, and depression clung to her. Counseling diagnosed PTSD and told her to talk about the trauma. Outside that office, people told her to get over it because he was a murderer. She became what she calls a silent survivor. In 2006, twelve years later, Bobby Wilcher dropped his appeals. She visited him before the execution, and he told her she did not need to apologize. He forgave her.
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She called Bobby’s attorney to see him before he was executed. She expected him to be maniac. Surprisingly, he was very calm. She talked to him about life for two hours. Crazy enough, they had become friends. She also asked him to forgive her.
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She was seeking out comfort and opinions of other jurors. A lot of them believed that Bobby got what he deserved. There were a few jurors that were genuinely upset about their decision.
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Isonhood and others wanted to tell their stories to potential jurors so they’d know what to expect, and to tell them to not be complacent, but know where they believe and stand. They must be prepared because they don’t want to walk in as juror and leave as a murderer.
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After Isonhood's experience, life taught her that if she had not served on the jury, she would still be of the same mindset. It also gave her confidence to see the eyes of her granddaughters to realize that the younger generation is capable and willing to tackle difficult social issues.
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