Veteran trial lawyers say the seven days of deliberations in the Kristen H. Gilbert trial are not surprising given the complex capital murder charges jurors are considering. Over 13 weeks of testimony, the U.S. District Court jury listened to hundreds of hours of often conflicting medical testimony involving the deaths and near-deaths of seven patients who were under Gilbert's care at the Northampton VA hospital.
Every jury is different and every case is different.
Deliberations by the nine women and three men began Feb. 23 and were to resume today. If convicted of first-degree murder, a second trial will be held to determine whether she should be executed or sentenced to life in prison. Government lawyers have argued that Gilbert injected her alleged victims with the heart stimulant epinephrine. Her defense claimed to show the veterans died of natural causes. Arthur Leavens, associate dean and professor of law at the Western New England School of Law in Springfield, said complexities of the case involving seven alleged victims and the medical and forensic testimony require careful examination by the jurors.