PENTICTON — The fate of a Princeton man was in the hands of 12 strangers. Members of the jury had to determine if John Ike Koopmans pulled the trigger in a shooting that killed two and seriously injured a third. The 12-member jury found Koopmans guilty of second-degree murder and attempted murder. Earlier this week, a supreme court judge handed Koopmans a sentence of 22 years without parole.
In a rare conversation with media, three of the former jurors share their experience with Global News.
On jury duty:
Crystal Berry: “I was very interesting in becoming a juror, actually, to learn about the process and the legal side of it interested me, so I was excited to be selected.”
David Gregory: “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it or not, but I had a sense of obligation or duty.”
Wade McGinnis: “I was actually hoping I wasn’t going to get selected. There’s a part of you that wants to get selected because you want to know the process, but there’s a large part that doesn’t because you know the trial is going to be so long.”
On pressure, stress and responsibility:
Berry: “When an expert would testify, if I didn’t understand something, I’d really, really want to understand it. So I’d really think over the testimony. I kept a diary, actually, while we were going through the process so that it was helping me let it go so I could kind of live a normal life while it was going on.”
Gregory: “It’s always on your mind: the facts or discussions you’ve had in the jury room…There’s pressure to make the right decision for the accused, you don’t want to wrongfully convict anybody, but it’s also the victims and the families, and the risk to society.”
McGinnis: “You’re worried about trying to read between the lines because you know everything they’re saying isn’t the truth, so you gotta weigh everything. That was the hardest part.”
On Koopmans:
Berry: “He was very calm and very sort of non-emotional (and) a couple of things from witnesses probably hit him a different way.”
Gregory: “Seemed like a nice guy, which made it harder to make decisions about his life.”
McGinnis: “John seemed to be a pretty reasonable guy. To this day I have no problem with John, even though I believe he’s a convicted killer.”
On impacts of personal lives:
Berry: ” I just felt like it was my whole life at that time, because if I wasn’t here, I was getting questions from people about the trial.”
Gregory: “It takes away from your social life. You can’t discuss anything from your whole day.”
McGinnis: “I work for a living. It pulls me from my job and there’s stress that goes with that.”
On jury duty again:
Berry: “Yes I would, but no time soon.”
Gregory: “I’ve done my duty and I don’t want to do it again.”
McGinnis: “No, it’s too stressful…I don’t want to be the judge, I don’t want to be the jury and I don’t want to be the executioner.”
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