Author's Notes:

This chapter is actually my response to the creepypasta "Autopilot." In this chapter, I put the speaker from that creepypasta in a third-person position, and Mormon is his only defender. I hope you enjoy it.

As I remember, it was during Pinkie Pie’s second year with me that I was called in for jury duty. It seems that a man had been brought in to stand trial for allegedly murdering his daughter. And, the one accusing him was his wife.

I remember the man’s defense being that he’d forgotten to drop off his daughter at the school on his way to work, and didn't realize that she was still in his car until he got home. Actually, it wasn’t then, but when he went to the school to pick up his daughter and realized she wasn’t there. At any rate, I also remember it being during the summer time, and it being particularly hot outside that first day.

One statement I remember clearly, an interpretation of the man’s intentions, was, “You interrupt my schedule, and I’ll kill you.” Now, this was before I was married, and for all intents and purposes, I was Pinkie Pie’s father for the time she was in my care; and being in that kind of position, although without a vehicle or even a driver's license of my own, and also being human, I felt I had some kind of understanding of what was going on. And, there was something about that man, beyond what I felt I had in common with him, that gave me the sense that he was innocent. And, it wasn’t just that interpretation of his motives either, as creepy and distasteful as it was to me. Although, that statement was the catalyst for my vote.

Now, before I continue with the story, let me just state that, yes, it is part of my nature that, when I’m pushed, I hold firm to my position.

Now, back to the story, when it was time for all the jurors to vote, I voted the man innocent, which displeased the rest of the jury, to say the least. Everyone else had voted him guilty.

I admitted having voted that the man was innocent, and I explained my decision the best I could.

One of the other jurors asked me, “How can you think he’s innocent? Didn’t you hear the accusations?”

I answered, “I’m not arguing that his daughter died in his care. I just have trouble believing it was deliberate. And, all the accusations in the world are meaningless without evidence to back them up. Besides, isn’t he supposed to be innocent until he’s proven guilty?”

That juror then asked me, “What, you wanna see the evidence? The little girl was dead in the back seat of her father’s car. What more do you need?”

I asked the man, “Were there any stab wounds on the body? Was there a weapon found with the blood of the little girl and the fingerprints of her father?” I didn’t wait for an answer before I continued, “She was behind the driver’s seat, for all intents and purposes in his blind spot. And, from what the man said, he was used to just going straight to work. I’m sure if he’d been able to see his daughter the whole time, he would’ve remembered he’d have to stop off at the school, and then head to work. What, you’ve never been so locked into a habit or a routine that you couldn’t easily break free from it?”

The juror answered, “It’s just like his wife said about him, ‘You interrupt my schedule, and I’ll kill you.’”

I have to admit, I was losing patience with that juror’s attitude. I told him, “You know what, it’s people like you that make me glad I never got, never even qualified for, a driver’s license. That way, I never have to face the situation this man’s facing.” Of course, I was referring to the man that was being accused of murdering his daughter. I continued, “And, what bothers me the most is the possibility of that kind of bully’s justice attitude going along with having a driver’s license! If you’ve never been so stuck in a routine that you just followed it without even thinking, then congratulations. But, just because it hasn’t happened to you yet doesn’t mean it can’t happen.” And, to the rest of the jurors, I added, “To any of you.” Then, I continued, focusing on the juror I’d been talking to, “I, for one, have been in that kind of cruise control; and, let me tell you, it’s not easy to get out of it. So, until you can show me proof beyond any doubt that this man murdered his daughter, I’ll continue to vote him innocent.”

And, I stuck to that. I remember the trial going on for at least a week after that, with me maintaining my belief in the man’s innocence, and thus voting.

As it turned out, there was no conclusive evidence to convince me of the man’s guilt, and I was the only one that voted him not guilty. I seem to remember it was a couple weeks into the trial that I was voted off of the jury for disagreeing with everyone else, and doing it for money. And, with me out of the way, the man was declared guilty of murder, and sentenced to the appropriate time, if such it could be called, in prison.

To this day, I still believe the man didn’t kill his daughter. Especially after finding out maybe a year later that the juror who had argued with me over my vote ended up in what I figure must've been a nearly identical situation, except it was his youngest son who had died in a summer-heated car. I can only guess my history with that previous case was the reason why I wasn’t selected for that particular jury.

From what I hear, when that former juror was found guilty and sentenced for the same amount of time, indeed a year after the man I’d fought for the year before, he was even sentenced to the same prison. I hear the two even shared the same cell. And, from what I heard, that first man held nothing against that member of his jury, talking about how he knew how his cell mate felt.

As for the rest of the jury I was a part of, I don’t know what happened to them. For all I know, they may have ended up in situations of their own like the man they’d sentenced to prison for a crime he hadn’t committed. All I know is, after being released from jury duty, I went back to caring for Pinkie Pie, who, while I’d been on jury duty, was being cared for by my parents. And, while I was happy to be reunited with her, I was upset at not being able to defend that man. People are unfair.

Finally, from what I hear, the man was released early from his sentence due to good behavior. I think he’s divorced from the wife that accused him of murdering his daughter, and married to another woman. By now, he may have started a new family with a new wife. But, I doubt he’s gone back to the job that, no doubt from his perspective, cost him his daughter, as well as his first wife. And, who could blame him? I wonder if he even drives anymore.

Well, anyway, one thing I’ll always be grateful for is that Pinkie Pie was there to help me get past that case. Who knows where I’d be without her there to help me?