Another Juror weighs in on the case...

I was selected to be a part of the jury for the Williams vs. Davis case, which was held on April 29th, 2015 at 11: 00 a.m. Michael Davis, the defendant, was being tried for First Degree Sexual Assault. The State of Wisconsin defines First Degree Sexual Assault as follows, from the Sex and Penalties in Wisconsin reference guide written by the State of Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau:

Section 940.225 (1), Wisconsin Statutes, prohibits sexual contact or sexual intercourse without consent in any of the following situations: 1) the assault causes pregnancy or great bodily harm; 2) use or threat of use of a dangerous weapon, or what appears to be one; 3) the perpetrator is aided or abetted by one or more other persons and the assault involves the use or threat of use of force or violence. Marriage is not a bar to prosecution in any case of sexual assault. This constitutes a Class B felony.

After listening to the defense and prosecution, along with their respective witnesses, I believe the defendant to be innocent of said charges. There was not enough factual or substantial evidence to charge Michael Davis with raping Ashely Williams using excessive force or violence or a weapon of any sort to intimidate the alleged victim.

At the beginning of jury deliberation, it was clear that the jury was divided. A few jury members strongly felt that Michael Davis was guilty while others were undecided. Agreeing with me were the remaining jury members who thought that Michael Davis was not guilty of the charge put against him; however, this does not mean that Michael Davis did not need some reprimanding for his actions. As a jury, we openly described what we heard in the case, compared notes, and discussed what we remembered from each party’s lawyers and witnesses. Michael Davis’ team of lawyers did an excellent job of using Pathos and Logos to appeal to the jury. They described Michael as a loving, friendly and endearing person. While on the stand, Michael Davis told the court how much he had loved Ashley Williams, how he had planned for their life in Chicago and just how heartbroken he was when those dreams were not going to come true.

Now on to Logos, which is the logic that swayed me to believe Michael Davis was innocent of the accusation. Both parties mentioned how upset Ashley Williams was at seeing Michael Davis talking to his friend, Miss Jenny Jackson, who had also written a note to Michael Davis, which Ashely Williams saw after the alleged rape. It was hard not to think she was doing this as a form of a scorned lover’s revenge. Davis stated she was upset after seeing it and stormed out of his apartment; on the other side, Williams admitted to being upset at seeing it and did not deny what Davis had said. The defendant and plaintiff mentioned more than once how upset Ashley Williams had been seeing Michael Davis with Jenny Jackson at the party the night of the alleged rape and for seeing the note on Michael’s desk.

However, credit goes to Ashely Williams’ Prosecuting team. While they lacked an emotional appeal to me, they did conjure very credible witnesses. A negative to these witnesses were that none of them were bought in for testimony nor did any of them have a personal relationship with Williams.

Although both teams put up an excellent argument, the jury had to decide based on the evidence and testimony presented. As mentioned earlier, there was no compelling evidence against Michael Davis stating he had used excessive force or a weapon to coerce Miss Williams into having sexual intercourse. 

Article written by MSTC Student, Gao