Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Journey To Justice
    A Journey To Justice
    A Journey To Justice
    Ebook41 pages36 minutes

    A Journey To Justice

    By Stephen Austen

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Both cases were 1st Degree Murder trials. For months, the Mothers carry on a “normal” life, denying any knowledge. Both cases involved the concealment of a missing child. Both involved stories of the horrific murder of young children. Both were deliberated by jurors. Why the different outcome?

    Told by the Jury Forman of the North Carolina trial, it has riveting insights about the case, and the deliberation process from the Jury’s perspective. It is a “must-read” for prospective jurors, media, legal professionals and all those involved with jury trials!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStephen Austen
    Release dateAug 20, 2011
    ISBN9781466178588
    A Journey To Justice
    Author

    Stephen Austen

    I was born in Lafayette, Louisiana and raised in New Orleans. But I truly grew-up as I travelled or lived in some thirty-four states. A Human Resources Manager, I now reside with my family in North Carolina. My writings and interests are eclectic. My latest series, The Paladin Papers, are fast-paced, fact-based military/techno thrillers. Based on today's events and often set in the near future, they offer thought-provoking entertainment. They will keep you thinking long after you put them down. I am certain you will enjoy reading these stories as much as I did writing them. . .

    Read more from Stephen Austen

    Related to A Journey To Justice

    Related ebooks

    Law For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Juror's Job

      May 1, 2023

      The Juror's Job
      4 min read

    • Article

      I Sent an Innocent Man to Prison

      Feb 23, 2018

      I can picture Kia now at the defense table, slumped down, doodling on a pad. I was reading his body language, and he just didn’t seem to care about what was going on. I thought, if he doesn’t care, why should we? His attitude seemed to say: Yeah, I d

      4 min read

    • Article

      I Was a Juror on a Murder Trial, And I Still Can’t Let It Go

      Feb 22, 2019

      Being a juror had never been something I was familiar with—very far from it, actually. I had grown up in Paris, France, and my interests had always been in fashion and the music industry. I lived in both Europe and the U.S., traveling back and forth,

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Day I Didn’t Serve on a Jury in a Sex Assault Case

      Apr 5, 2019

      “As I left the courthouse it dawned on me that the judge had assumed the role of therapist.”

      4 min read

    • Article

      Witnesses To The Execution

      Jul 24, 2020

      An oral history of the first federal execution under Donald Trump, as told by victims’ relatives, prison staff, and others.

      12 min read

    • Article

      Why This Judge Dreads Execution Day

      Apr 13, 2018

      The execution was set for 6 p.m. I knew because I set the date and time myself. With a little more than an hour to go, I sat alone by the phone in my office. More than three decades had passed since the defendant was first convicted of murdering a po

      4 min read

    • Article

      What I Learned About Voting Rights in the Fields of Angola

      Mar 13, 2020

      "We asked ourselves: Do we want to change our conditions, or do we want to change our circumstances?"

      4 min read

    • Article

      All The Ways Being White Helped Me Avoid Prison

      Sep 14, 2018

      Before I exited the courtroom, Judge James told me that, despite my felony convictions, he felt I would best serve my community from outside a prison cell. After so many chances already, I was given one more, and yes, I felt very lucky. Nearly 14 yea

      4 min read

    • Article

      The ACLU Attorney Who Fights To Reunite Migrant Families

      May 23, 2019

      Lee Gelernt is the lead ACLU attorney on efforts to track down and reunite thousands of separated migrant families.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Was This Man Sentenced to Death Because He’s Gay?

      Jun 12, 2018

      Before South Dakota jurors decided the fate of Charles Rhines in 1993, they sent a handwritten note to the judge. They had just found Rhines guilty of fatally stabbing 22-year-old Donnivan Schaeffer, an employee of Dig ‘Em Donuts in Rapid City, durin

      5 min read

    • Article

      I Taught Myself How to Read in Prison. Then I Sued the System and Won

      May 24, 2019

      “Just like the rest of life, everything about the court system is a puzzle I’ve had to piece together.”

      5 min read

    • Article

      A Former Warden’s View on Prison Strikes

      Aug 23, 2018

      "An inmate is there as punishment, not for punishment," says former warden Cameron Lindsay.

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Journey To Justice

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Journey To Justice - Stephen Austen

      A Journey To Justice

      By

      Stephen W. Austen

      Copyright by Stephen W. Austen

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Dedicated To:

      Baby Angel

      "Baby Angel" was born to an indifferent world.

      She died unloved, unwanted, unclothed, unfed and uncomforted.

      I don’t know how long those tiny cries persisted in those frozen woods of February.

      I do know after her last pitiful breath expired, there was a new flower in God’s Garden.

      - One -

      The Case

      The Plain facts in the case of The State of North Carolina vs. Erica Denise Kelly are simple matters of public record. They chronicle a two-and-a-half-year journey through the legal system.

      This story is based a tragedy that should not have happened. It began February 22, 2009, in the rural Union County of North Carolina, and ended July 13, 2011, at the Union County Judicial Center in Monroe, North Carolina.

      February 22, 2009 – Baby Angel is born and died.

      February 24, 2009 – Baby Angel’s remains are discovered in the front yard of a double-wide trailer by the owner, who called 911. Her body is beside a burn pit, near the front porch steps. At the time, the Defendant and her boyfriend are in the process moving-in with the trailer’s owner and others. The Union County Sheriff’s Deputies establish a crime scene and begin the investigation. The baby’s remains, burned and partially eaten by animals, are removed to the medical examiner’s office for autopsy.

      February 25, 2009 - Medical Examiner’s preliminary autopsy confirms Baby Angel was born alive after a full-term pregnancy, but weighed less than six pounds. Investigators soon take buccal swabs from adults in the household for DNA testing to determine parentage.

      April 2, 2009 - DNA evidence links the Defendant to the baby. She is arrested that morning while reporting to work.

      April 3, 2009 - the Defendant is charged with murder, concealing the birth of a child and denied bond.

      July 5, 2011 - Jury selection begins

      July 6, 2011 - Jury is impaneled, hears opening arguments and testimony begins.

      July 8, 2011 - Prosecution and Defense teams rest their cases.

      July 12, 2011 - Jury hears closing arguments, receives instructions from the Judge; begins deliberations before lunchtime.

      July 13, 2011 – at about 5:20 p.m. our jury returns verdicts of Guilty of 2nd Degree Murder and Not Guilty of Concealing the Birth of a Child. Judge sentences the Defendant to serve a range of from 13 to 16 years, 6 months. Credit for

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1