This juror indicated to us that he was set up and falsely accused by the police. The majority of the jurors feel that this experience has affected our chance for an open deliberation to reach a verdict in this case. But Porter indicated he saw no reason to stop the deliberations. He explained that the note does not suggest that the jury is hung. The judge ordered the jury to review all previous instructions he has given them and to continue deliberating.
Lawyers typically do criminal background checks on prospective jurors.
In a case involving a police officer, in particular, a potential juror's past dealings with authorities would have been of great interest to the prosecution. In addition, jurors are asked extensive questions about their experience with and beliefs about law-enforcement officers. But John Gorman, a spokesman for Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine, said Tuesday that prosecutors first learned that the juror had a previous arrest during the side-bar communications that took place with the judge Saturday. The juror disclosed that he was involved in a civil complaint with the Chicago Transit Authority, Gorman said, but not that he had been arrested on a drug charge in 1999.