Letter to the editor - Dec. 15

Juror: No justice for child

Jury duty is a privilege. Many people find jury duty a huge inconvenience.

I do not.

I sat on the jury last week for a horrendous case, in which a toddler, Noah Trujillo, was abused and death occurred. My notepad was filled with observations from the testimonies, as were many of my fellow jurors’ notepads. We took this responsibility extremely serious, knowing ultimately we would decide the fate of a person, holding them either responsible or unresponsible for the events that took place.

To not be able to talk about the case with our spouses or with each other I’m sure was difficult for each of us.

On day three we were informed that a plea agreement had been reached. It is my opinion that this child did not receive justice.

I believe it is the responsibility of a parent to protect their child from all harm. As a mother, I believe it is even more the responsibility of a mother to protect her child at all costs. It infuriates me that our justice system offers a lesser sentence because it would take too much time to prove what seems so obvious.

At the end of the day, a man also involved in this case sits in prison for 16 years for his actions and a mother only has a deferred probation sentence for failing to protect her child. At the end of the day, 14 jurors have to live with all the evidence, pictures and impressions we were privy to, perhaps feeling that justice was not served ... at least not to our standards.

As a minister I can only pray that the individuals involved in this case will seek forgiveness from the only One that is able to forgive them for their actions.

I can only pray for them.

Bonetta Hutson

Clovis