Although he’s been a Minnesota taxpayer since he was16, Bob Adkinson of Archway Marketing Services in Rogers, wasn’t called up for jury duty until three years ago—and he was excited about it. He’s always been fascinated with judges, juries, and the legal process. As foreman, he helped the jury separate facts from emotions.
“I had heard a lot about jury duty and always wanted to serve. I got that opportunity three years ago for an assault case in Hennepin County. I was selected as the jury foreman. It wasn’t so much me taking a step forward; it was more the other jurors taking a step back. I was a little nervous.
“As a starting point, by a show of hands, we learned the majority of the jurors felt the defendant was not guilty. I suggested that we go around the table and explain our individual points of view. By the time we got to the fourth person, it felt to me that the opinions were coming from emotions, not facts.
“After debating for over an hour, I suggested we start over and re-examine the facts of the case. Using a white board and our trial notes, we created three columns—facts pointing to guilt, facts supporting innocence, and facts supporting neither. At the end of 30 minutes, there were eight or nine facts in the guilty column and only one in the innocent column. After we talked about the facts, we voted and we all felt he was guilty.
“It’s difficult to start over in a decision process—however, it’s appropriate in most cases. As a businessperson, I often see cases where decision makers should start over and re-examine the facts rather than clinging to bad decisions.
“The experience was fulfilling for three reasons. I contributed to the legal process by showing up, I influenced the outcome by leveraging my leadership skills, and I gained experience and insights related to how people make decisions.”
