Laughter instead of Justice

  They had been debating for an hour before the jury members in the Brett Kavanaugh -- Christine Blasey Ford case began to make any progress.
   "I keep going back to the 65 character witnesses," Juror Five said. "I just can't help but believing that with that many people vouching for his character, you gotta know he's innocent."
   "Yes, and you heard what Senator McConnell said," Juror Eight offered. "He said the Democrats have opened 'the floodgates of mud and muck.' That's what this is all about. It's something for us to consider. We don't want to add our names to those heaping mud on Kavanaugh."
   "Excuse me," Juror Twelve interjected. "This allegation didn't come from the Democrats. Dr. Ford made the allegation. Could we get over the idea that the Democrats are somehow behind all this? What are you saying -- that they went out and bought Ford, and got her to make the whole thing up? You might as well walk up to her, look her in the eye, and ask,"Dr. Ford, how much are the Democrats paying you to make this up? How much are you being paid?"
    For a brief moment, the room was quiet, except for an echoing and haunting voice coming from none of the jurors, but rather from an etherland. "Excuse me?" it said, floating through the room.
   Juror Five gave a quizzical look upon hearing the voice, but dismissed it and was quickly back to his standard line. "Let's get back to the 65 character witnesses," he said. "I don't care much for this story Dr. Ford came up with. It doesn't impress me -- but 65 character witnesses? Now, that's something!"
    "What about the 2,400 lawyers who signed a statement saying Kavanaugh isn't impartial enough, and lacks the proper temperament to serve on the court?" Juror Eleven put in. "Oh -- don't get me wrong -- I'm with you all on him being innocent and all if its just about this sexual assault thing. But, if we are going to have any say about his being on the Supreme Court, I think we should think on the 2,400 signatures."
    The other jurors looked at him like he was crazy. "We aren't here to consider the nomination," Juror Six said. "We are here just to determine if he sexually assaulted Dr. Ford."
    "Which is why the 65 character witnesses are so important," Juror Five exclaimed. "Sixty-five! We know someone with that many people vouching for him didn't go out and assault somebody."
   "And, you've got all the clerks who have worked for him since then," Juror Two said. "None of them are saying anything bad about him. Who are we going to believe -- someone who makes a false accusation or the people who have known him through all these years?"
   "Pardon, if you don't mind," Juror Twelve tried. All these people who have known him through the years, all these people vouching for him . . . Now, if they were never themselves assaulted by him, of course they don't know that part of him. They wouldn't know that side of him unless he assaulted them. And, it is fine if they weren't assaulted. This isn't about anything except whether anyone except Dr. Ford was assaulted. I have listened to her testimony, and it is compelling. I believe her."
   "But, we don't have any collaborating evidence," Juror One said. "Nothing. We don't have a mother saying she came home distraught that night. We don't have her friend Leland Keyser remembering how she told her she had been assaulted, or saying she left the party early -- nothing."
   "I have to wonder if some corroborating evidence would have been found if they would have investigated," Juror Twelve said. "I mean, when you instruct the FBI on who they should talk to, and when you skip people who should be talked to, and don't even talk to them, something's wrong. That's a rigged investigation. A real investigation would follow those leads, instead of dismissing them. You go back and talk to people who knew her at the time, and ask them if there was a time back then when she seemed to change emotionally. You go back and interview those at the July 1 party. Maybe they did interview those at the party, have they said? Did they interview the therapist? The investigation could not be complete without that."
   Juror Twelve sighed. He looked around at the others. "I believe her. There isn't any reason not to believe her. What motive is there for her to lie? None. 'Search and destroy'? Does she have a grudge against Kavanaugh? Did something happen that made him her enemy? If there were, Kavanaugh surely would have brought it up during his testimony. He didn't. She has no reason to be out to get him if he didn't assault her. None.
   "Is she mentally deluded, then? She might have some quirks. Wanting two front doors in your house is certainly a quirk. Some would say her fear of flying is irrational, but a lot of people don't like to fly. So, I say, no big deal.
    "Yes, I believe her. Yes, I have doubts -- but I believe her. Her witness is so strong, that although I have doubts, I do not have 'reasonable' doubts. I believe her compelling witness."
     Juror Five cut him off. "Wait, wait, wait," he said. "Are you forgetting the 65 character witnesses? These are his friends! They know him! We can't just brush off what they have to say!"
   And, so it is, Kavanaugh was acquitted. The lead juror, in reading the ruling, turned to look at Kavanaugh, and said, "You have a long list of character witnesses, so there was no need for the FBI to look for any corroborating witnesses. And, without that corroborating evidence, the 65 character witnesses are the most compelling evidence we have. You're a free man."
   Somewhere in the  of the chamber, a soft cry was heard, wafting in as if from a ghost land. And then, from another source, the sound of laughter -- laughter echoing through the courtroom as it emptied, and following everyone out into the streets.