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Writer's pictureJackie Groeneveld

All Guilty

When I was a young Sergeant in the Army, I was selected to sit on a court martial hearing for a female soldier. I don’t remember what rank she was. She was a cook and apparently had left her weapon unattended. We all know what a big deal that is, even if the current chain of command doesn’t seem to agree. I didn’t know what the case would be until I arrived.

I considered myself a strac soldier, and when I heard what she was being tried for, I immediately determined she was guilty as hell. Burn her at the stake kind of guilty. We could have ended the trial then as far as I was concerned. I was ready to convict; but we had to sit through the testimony.


At the end of the trial, we took a quick, anonymous vote. I don’t remember how many members there were, but I do remember one was at least a Captain, seems like he could have even been a Major. The outcome of the vote, you ask? One hundred per center not guilty. I won’t get into the whys and wherefores. The bottom line was even though I for one was certain we would find her guilty, upon hearing the evidence, I knew she was not.

Isn’t it amazing how our judicial system works? Sometimes we come in with preconceived notions of right and wrong, only to find out how wrong we are. I’m glad I sat on that trial. I don’t know to this day if she was really responsible for leaving her M16 unattended or not. I do know that I could not find her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.


I don’t know how after watching the video evidence of the Rittenhouse trial, people I know and believe are reasonable, caring adults could sit back and claim it was all because he was white that he was found not guilty. Did you watch it? Or, did you only listen to MSNBC? Please help me to understand. If someone I love ever has to stand trial, I hope the jury will weigh the evidence presented in court and rule fairly, not listen to media reports. That’s all we can all hope for. I know there are people in prison now who have been unfairly judged. Try not to be one of the ones unfairly judging.

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