Legal experts say delays are not unusual, even in cases where the defendant has admitted to the crime and an abundance of evidence has been amassed. Jurors by and large are extremely conscientious, said San Luis Obispo defense attorney Jeff Stein. They want to do the right thing. And given the moral weightiness of the role and the profound consequences, it may just be that they re going real slowly.
Jury deliberations remain mysterious, even for courtroom lawyers.
Often a piece of evidence that neither the prosecution, the defense or the judge will see as important, the jury will seize on and have it become imbued with consequence. It happens even in cases in which in the opening statement the defense concedes essentially the issues. It s always perplexing. During the two-week trial, the prosecution has shown videotapes of Rex Allan Krebs confession and of his leading law enforcement to the buried bodies of Aundria Crawford and Rachel Newhouse. At issue for the jury, however, may not be whether he did it, but what is the correct legal definition of the crime.