Moby
10-23-2008, 05:31 PM
This is interesting
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-10-23-stevens-jury-thursday_N.htm?csp=34
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jurors described a violent and hectic atmosphere in the jury room at Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial Thursday, chaos that threatened to derail the month-long trial of the powerful Alaska lawmaker.
In a note to the judge, jurors asked that one of their panel be sent home. The note described the female juror as rude, disrespectful and unreasonable.
"She has had violent outbursts with other jurors, and that's not helping anyone," the note read, according to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan.
The note arrived on the second day of deliberations in the senator's trial. Hours into deliberations Wednesday, jurors told the judge that things had become stressful and asked to go home.
The latest note said "jurors are getting off course." Sullivan was weighing how to respond. He said he wanted to question the foreman about the claims of violence. Judges are loathe to interfere with jury deliberations, however, for fear it will steer jurors to one outcome.
Stevens, the longest-serving Senate Republican, is charged with lying for years on Senate financial disclosure documents to conceal $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from his friend, millionaire oil contractor Bill Allen.
Tension in the jury room is normally viewed as good for a defendant, as it increases the likelihood that jurors won't get reach the unanimous decision needed for a verdict. Without a unanimous vote, a trial ends in a mistrial and prosecutors must decide whether to start over.
Defense attorney Robert Cary urged Sullivan to proceed slowly and not overreact.
"It cannot be the law that 11 people on a jury can ask that one person be removed," Cary said.
"If they're being violent they can," Sullivan responded.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-10-23-stevens-jury-thursday_N.htm?csp=34
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jurors described a violent and hectic atmosphere in the jury room at Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial Thursday, chaos that threatened to derail the month-long trial of the powerful Alaska lawmaker.
In a note to the judge, jurors asked that one of their panel be sent home. The note described the female juror as rude, disrespectful and unreasonable.
"She has had violent outbursts with other jurors, and that's not helping anyone," the note read, according to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan.
The note arrived on the second day of deliberations in the senator's trial. Hours into deliberations Wednesday, jurors told the judge that things had become stressful and asked to go home.
The latest note said "jurors are getting off course." Sullivan was weighing how to respond. He said he wanted to question the foreman about the claims of violence. Judges are loathe to interfere with jury deliberations, however, for fear it will steer jurors to one outcome.
Stevens, the longest-serving Senate Republican, is charged with lying for years on Senate financial disclosure documents to conceal $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from his friend, millionaire oil contractor Bill Allen.
Tension in the jury room is normally viewed as good for a defendant, as it increases the likelihood that jurors won't get reach the unanimous decision needed for a verdict. Without a unanimous vote, a trial ends in a mistrial and prosecutors must decide whether to start over.
Defense attorney Robert Cary urged Sullivan to proceed slowly and not overreact.
"It cannot be the law that 11 people on a jury can ask that one person be removed," Cary said.
"If they're being violent they can," Sullivan responded.