Jury Duty -- Murder trial/hung jury

[orval]

I just finished nine days of jury duty on a murder trial. There were other charges breaking and entering, larceny, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. We only found him guilty on b&e, larceny. The murder/possession charges were a hung jury/mistrial - 11 guilty, 1 not guilty - despite DNA and gun evidence.

The judge came in afterwards to read us the list of his other pending charges including armed robbery.  I hope those stick as I don't think he belongs out on the streets.

So many thoughts but I would write a book if I tried to put them out there.  All in all, it was a depressing situation in so many ways.  Feel free to ask any questions.

[andwhat]

Why do you think there was one hold out for the murder conviction despite DNA/gun evidence? Were you allowed to consider lesser charges like manslaughter?

I always want to be on a jury, but I will never get selected.

[orval]

He said he didn't believe the DNA evidence - it was not an exact match but 1 in 8.51 million. DNA on the interior door handle and a touch of blood of victim on pants he was arrested in. He also didn't believe he had the gun on the day of the murder -- he was found in possession the gun 5 days later confirmed by firearms testing.
The charges were first degree murder or felony murder (killing someone when breaking/entering) or both. Mandatory life sentence. No other options.

[whiskeytails]

I was on a jury once regarding an unfit mother losing custody of her children. She hadn't proved her motherhood in 3 years and the state was sick of sinking money into her rehabilitation.

I cannot stress enough that she was unfit.

While we were not determining whether or not she was to lose custody, we had to answer yes/no for 7 questions. People had a hard time honestly answering, as they didn't want to be why a mother lost custody.

It was mentally hard.

[cc]

I served on a jury for a vehicular homicide/dui manslaughter case and, while it was fascinating to see court in action, I felt emotionally drained for a while after the trial.

[starlily]

Did the court tell you the possible sentence before deliberations? That is typically not allowed.

[orriskitten]

I was on jury duty for a really horrible case. It was a street brawl between a few guys. One guy threw a punch that hit a guy who had previous brain damage and when the guy landed it made the previous issues worse.

It came down to intent vs impact. I truly do not believe the guy who threw the punch wanted to severely damage the man (who should not have been where he was and was basically living in the family's downstairs hallway) , but it happened and in this case the impact mattered more than if it was intended or not.

I still feel terrible about it to this day.

[suzyp]

Dec 11, 2016 17:18:23 GMT -5 starlily said:

Did the court tell you the possible sentence before deliberations? That is typically not allowed.

I always thought that. But in Texas it's not the case for some cases apparently. I had jury duty (was not picked thankfully) but during voir dire we were told that it was a non death penalty capital murder trial (it was a murder during a drug deal of the dealer) and we were told that if found guilty there was an automatic sentence of life without the possibility of parole.  I was really surprised. The. We were asked questions about whether we could find the guy guilty because he looked really young. If it was an automatic sentence I don't know why they told us that. 

I was thankfully not picked. And I also realized that I could never be on a jury with the death penalty. 

[biscoffcookies]

Dec 11, 2016 15:55:02 GMT -5 orval said:

He said he didn't believe the DNA evidence - it was not an exact match but 1 in 8.51 million. DNA on the interior door handle and a touch of blood of victim on pants he was arrested in. He also didn't believe he had the gun on the day of the murder -- he was found in possession the gun 5 days later confirmed by firearms testing.
The charges were first degree murder or felony murder (killing someone when breaking/entering) or both. Mandatory life sentence. No other options.

Wow.

Did the defense provide any reason why the victims blood was on his pants if he didn't do it? (Not the defendant's burden I know, but I wonder given the implications of that evidence if they offered a different explanation.)

[jeaniebueller]

Dec 11, 2016 15:55:02 GMT -5 orval said:

He said he didn't believe the DNA evidence - it was not an exact match but 1 in 85 million

As someone closely involved in the CJ system, this makes me want to bang my head on a wall. When they asked him if there was any reason he couldn't find someone guilty if the prosecution proved it, he should have said YES because I am a moron.

[orval]

Dec 11, 2016 17:18:23 GMT -5 starlily said:

Did the court tell you the possible sentence before deliberations? That is typically not allowed.

Yes, during jury selection they made sure that we knew it would be life without parole. The defendant was only 22 so they also wanted to be sure we could put him away for life even though he was young.

[orval]

Dec 11, 2016 23:28:30 GMT -5 biscoffcookies said:

Dec 11, 2016 15:55:02 GMT -5 orval said:

He said he didn't believe the DNA evidence - it was not an exact match but 1 in 8.51 million. DNA on the interior door handle and a touch of blood of victim on pants he was arrested in. He also didn't believe he had the gun on the day of the murder -- he was found in possession the gun 5 days later confirmed by firearms testing.
The charges were first degree murder or felony murder (killing someone when breaking/entering) or both. Mandatory life sentence. No other options.

Wow.

Did the defense provide any reason why the victims blood was on his pants if he didn't do it? (Not the defendant's burden I know, but I wonder given the implications of that evidence if they offered a different explanation.)

The defense did not present any witnesses at all.

[nikki25]

One of the things I despise most is when the judge will read their prior record after a not guilty or hung jury case. Judges can be fucking assholes about a not guilty or hung jury verdict and will read their prior record for no reasons other than to tell the jury they were wrong and guilt them. It is one of my biggest issues with some of these judges here.

Anyways, how long did the judge allow you to deliberate when it appeared the other juror won't budge?

Did you go over all of the evidence first then vote or vote first then went over the evidence?

[mdgirl]

The first time I ever had jury duty I was in a massive pool for a quintuple murder case. It took them so long to read all the names and some people gasped when they realized what case it was (five murders is a big deal even for Baltimore). Super glad I didn't get picked for that one.

[olivesyou]

Were you sequestered?

Being on a jury sounds so cool. I am sad I've never gotten picked

[orval]

Dec 12, 2016 11:22:17 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

One of the things I despise most is when the judge will read their prior record after a not guilty or hung jury case. Judges can be fucking assholes about a not guilty or hung jury verdict and will read their prior record for no reasons other than to tell the jury they were wrong and guilt them. It is one of my biggest issues with some of these judges here.

Anyways, how long did the judge allow you to deliberate when it appeared the other juror won't budge?

Did you go over all of the evidence first then vote or vote first then went over the evidence?

The judge did not tell us his prior record. She told us his pending charges. Some of the jury was concerned for the safety of witnesses that still live in the same address that were broken into. I think she was trying to reassure them he will be in jail for a while.

We had to go back 3 different times when we said we didn't agree. Probably about 5 or 6 hours.

We went over evidence first then voted.

[orval]

Dec 12, 2016 11:55:36 GMT -5 olivesyou said:

Were you sequestered?

Being on a jury sounds so cool. I am sad I've never gotten picked

We were not sequestered. No one cared about this trial. The defendant had no one in the courtroom. The murder victim only had a couple aunts.

It was interesting but physically and emotionally draining. And I am now a bit scared in my own house - one of the crimes was about 2 miles from my house -- and seeing the damage, hearing fear in a 911 call, learning the defendants MO was jarring.

[olivesyou]

Dec 13, 2016 7:12:11 GMT -5 orval said:

Dec 12, 2016 11:55:36 GMT -5 olivesyou said:

Were you sequestered?

Being on a jury sounds so cool. I am sad I've never gotten picked

We were not sequestered. No one cared about this trial. The defendant had no one in the courtroom. The murder victim only had a couple aunts.

It was interesting but physically and emotionally draining. And I am now a bit scared in my own house - one of the crimes was about 2 miles from my house -- and seeing the damage, hearing fear in a 911 call, learning the defendants MO was jarring.

Really, the victim didn't have anyone in the court room?  No parents, siblings, friends?  How so sad =(

[Deleted]

Were the jurors arguing with the guy who held out? I would be so frustrated.

I was an alternate and the trial was really interesting.  I was sad I didn't get to stay for deliberations.