On Monday, the judge in the Kappa hazing trial declared a mistrial, further prolonging the saga.
Apparently, the jury could not decide on a definition of “serious bodily injury” and was therefore unable to determine if the alleged assailants seriously injured defendant Marcus Jones.A story in the March 10 Tallahassee Democrat said Jones suffered from a hematoma, internal bleeding and required 25 stitches.
“He faced three to four weeks of recovery and will miss the rest of the spring semester, according to his father,” the article stated.
Jones’ father said the boy came home in blood-soaked clothing, and further reporting revealed Jones also suffered a loss of hearing.
Is there room for confusion anywhere in that laundry list of injuries?
The interpretation of law requires people to apply literal, common definitions to terms in the statutes.
This means, use common sense. Jones did not have a paper cut! He did not have a boo-boo that could be repaired with a kiss and a band-aid.
I guess the six members of the jury would need Jones to be in a coma or full-body cast before they could say he was injured seriously.
But such is the case in today’s legal system. One term can trump all evidence. Because six people cannot agree on the definition of one term, the scales of justice continue to hang unbalanced.
The Famuan cannot judge who is guilty and who is not. The Holy Bible says love hides a multitude of sins. It seems like a group of people in cahoots can do the same thing.
Driadonna Roland for the Editorial Board.