The Trump Trial Conveniently Skipped this Critical Step

  Where was the jury deliberation? Did the Trump impeachment trial contain this critical part of the trial process?
  We have discussed how the Senate departed from the model used in trials all across America. The typical trial includes, (1.) Jury selection, (2.) Opening statements, (3.) Witness testimony and cross-examination, (4.) Closing arguments, (5.) Jury instruction, and, (6.) Jury deliberation and verdict.
  How far our Senate departed from this model. It is used in our trials all up and down and across the country, but it was not good enough for the Senate.
   Tonight, it hit me how critical the jury deliberation was. This is the time when the jury members discuss and review and weigh the evidence. It is the moment when they brought to be accountable for the evidence. One jury members says, What about this? And, the jury members have to respond as to why that is or is not important.
   The judicial system, with the jury deliberation, forces the jurors to justify their votes. Without it, they can just say, Well, I'm going to vote against impeachment. That's it.
  They need no explanation, no justification. The trial process is stripped of accountability. The facts of the case do not need to matter, because you are not required to respond to them.
   We spend hundreds of years establishing our trial process. We use it in our trials throughout the land. It is a process honed through years long forgotten, and it provides justice.
  If you drop the deliberation step out of the trial, you strip justice of one of its most valuable components.