Name: Juror opens up about facing trauma after serving on murder trial
Uploaded: 2025-10-30T00:21:01.493Z
Duration: 3 min 4 s
Description: Less than half a million will serve on violent criminal cases, including murder. But counseling and mental health services offered to jurors after those verdicts are rare.

Less than half a million will serve on violent criminal cases, including murder. But counseling and mental health services offered to jurors after those verdicts are rare.

Philadelphia

Serving on a jury for violent criminal cases can leave jurors with lasting trauma, as described by Corey Wallace, an IT specialist who participated in a Philadelphia murder trial. Wallace recounted experiencing emotional distress and flashbacks after the trial, noting that support for jurors in such situations is rare.

In response, Philadelphia Jury Commissioner Patrick Martin partnered with psychologist Michelle Pohl to launch a program providing free psychological first aid sessions to jurors. The initiative, which began in April, offers at least three support sessions and aims to help jurors process their experiences. Wallace was among the first to benefit from the program, crediting it with helping him manage the emotional aftermath of his service.

Juror opens up about facing trauma after serving on murder trial

Jury duty is considered a vital public service. Millions every year report to courtrooms to determine justice for crimes often gruesome and tragic. It often leaves many jurors traumatized with no assistance after the trial is over. In tonight's In Depth, Jorica Duncan reports on a program trying to provide support and therapy. As an IT specialist, 37-year-old Corey Wallace is used to offering support to others, but he says he was the one who needed help after serving on a jury for a murder trial in Philadelphia. Did you want to serve? Absolutely not. I did not want to spend any time in a courtroom. The jury ultimately convicted a man of first-degree murder in the killing of a 27-year-old transgender woman. Investigators found her dismembered body in a river near a park that Wallace used to frequent. There would be nights where I was just driving around the city and I might make eye contact with a transgender person as I'm in the car and it's like a lightning strike. I thought I was over it, moving past it, and I would just get dumped back in these flashes. Jurors were shown gruesome pictures of bloody crime scenes. Wallace says he never saw the victim's face until after the trial. The first thing I saw was her face and the eyes and the hair, and it struck me. This woman that was full of life was so savagely murdered. Across this country, 11 million people will report for jury duty each year. Now, less than half a million will serve on violent criminal cases, including murder. Counseling and mental health services offered to jurors after the verdict are rare. I'm pulling regular people off the street, a deli worker, a plumber, a librarian. They don't know what they're really getting into when they come down for jury service. Philadelphia Jury Commissioner Patrick Martin had an idea, create a program to help jurors handle trauma. Why is this so important to you? The jurors are mine. They're my responsibility, not just when they get the summons in the mail, but when they go home. He partnered with psychologist Michelle Pohl at Westchester University to come up with a plan. What are your thoughts about that? Grad students who are trained by Pohl offer at least three free support sessions to jurors. They use a technique called psychological first aid. It's not any different from what first responders receive. And what we've done with psychological first aid is really to focus on, where do we sort of customize this for jurors? The program launched in April. One of the first jurors to take advantage, Corey Wallace, who had a follow-up visit with Pohl this month. She helped me kind of disconnect that web of yarn and all those conflicting emotions associated with it. I would not have been able to do that without her. Needed support after the verdict. Jerika Duncan, CBS News, Philadelphia.

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