That this verdict was later reduced demonstrates that peers don't render competent judgment. Deal with it. Let's begin anew with psychoanalysis of those 12 jurors. Juries, once the element of sanity amidst lawyer rhetoric and scientific bunk, have become the judicial system's wild card. A National Law Journal juror survey found that over half believe that they should decide cases on personal beliefs, not law.
Lawyers capitalize on the jury factor.
There are the likes of Jo Ellen Demetrius, of the Cochran defense team, who assist lawyers in picking just the right brand of nincompoop for a jury to ensure a favorable verdict even one not grounded in fact or law. He claimed that he was sleepwalking during the entire 45- minute scenario, and Falater's experts testified that Falater's wife interrupted him as he tried to fix their pool pump while sleepwalking, thus setting off the bloody rage during which he managed to change and hide his clothes and quiet the dog. The Falater murder case has done to every married woman in America what the film Fatal Attraction did to every married man. Juries of our peers have not proven particularly reliable in sorting wheat from chaff. But, two female Falater jurors sorted through the bunk with common sense.