The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-12
QUEER JURY PROCEEDINGS.
NO TELLING WHAT TWELVE GOOD
MEN AND TRUE" WILL DO.

Sometimes They Play Cards for d
Verdict; Sometimes Throw Dice
Expensive "SeaIed Verdict" Trick
Played by "a Disagreeing brooklyn
Jury to Gain Their Release-Why
"a Kentucky Foreman Couldn
Give an InteIIigibIe Decision
Lively Jury Room Methods in Iowa
How sullivan of Troy Made Good
Use of His AiIment TO Win over
Eleven Obstinate Opponents.
Copyright, 1901, by w. A. Willis)
New York. Aug. 9-The deliberations
of iuries after the door of the jury
noon has been closed are not always
of that calm and dignifed character ac-
credited to them by popular opinion
Only on the rarest occasions does any
thing of what goes on in the jury room
become a matter of actual pubic
knowledge, for the average juryman is
as mum as an oyster about the cases
which he had been called upon to de-
eide, but there are occasional leakages
from the jury room calculated to shake
the faith of the most conservative, in
the institution of the twelve good men
and true"
On this order was recent damage
suit in Indianapolis, where the jury
was called upon to decide whether the
plaintiff was entitled to damages for
injuries alleged to be due to the negl-
gence of the city. a telephone company
and an asphalt corporation. Apparent
ly the jury was of average caliber. Like
many other juries of all calibers. they
couldn't agree. After they had been out
forty-eight hours the status of opinion
was seven to five in favor Of the plain
tiff Some eight hours later one of the
seven changed his mind, and the jury
stood evenly divided at six to six.
There was every prospect of an indeh-
nitely prolonged deadlock, when one of
the pro-plaintirf jurors had a brilliant
idea.
Wen never do any business this
way" he said. Lets get pack of
cards and play for it, the losers to ac-
cept the decision of the winners
AS a sporting proposition this met
with instant favor. AS a scheme for
adjusting differences II was hailed joy
ously. Seven-up was agreed upon as
the form of arbitration. The jurors sent
out for cards and divided up into three
sets of two pairs each, the side which
TO be declared victor. Each side had
won a game, and the third quartette
were just starting in when the officer
who had been sent after the cards re-
ported to the judge. A bailiff broke up
the game and the jury was discharged
without reaching, an agreement.
More definite of result. If common
report is to be believed, was the arbi-
trament of chance in a murder case
WI
out for an acquittal against eleven for
conviction in a minor degree, offered
to throw dice for his vote against any
one of the eleven. The offer was taken
up, and the story runs that the man
won five jurors one after the other for
acquittal, lost three of them back; then,
after a great deal of see-sawing, land
ed the entire eleven. The result was
an acquittal where the actual senti-
ment of the jury was eleven for de-
cision of guilt and one for a decision
of innocence. A somewhat similar
transaction in the jury room is told
by lawyer of Chicago, who claims to
have evidence that his client was con-
victed after six of the jury had played
pinochle against the other six for their
votes. One-half the jury stood for MUIR
der in the first degree. while the other
six favored a verdict of murder in the
second degree. which would have
meant Imprisonment for life, instead of
hanging. The first degree crowd won
the freeze-out, and the man who was
being tried by this august body was
hanged.
That was a clever scheme, which
Brooklyn jury evolved last spring to
avoid the unpleasant consequences of
an inability to agree. After being out
for eight hours they reported to the
court that there was no use of
their celebrating further, as they
would never be able to reach a
common ground. The court told
them to go back and deliberate some
more. A night in the jury room was
in prospect. This wasn't to the taste
of the jurors. One of their number
evolved a plan. They notified the court
that they would hand in a sealed ver-
dict The verdict was duly handed
in and the jurymen sent home. When
court convened on the following morn
ing the sealed envelope was opened,
and to the indignation of the judge,
the verdict" was found to be state
ment that no agreement could be
reached. Beautifully as the plan had
worked, 1t had unpleasant conse-
: quences, for the judge hauled the jury
men up. and after severely lecturing
them, inflicted a considerable fine upon
each and every man.
In Kentucky they have a method of
settling differences of opinion which is
occasionally employed in the jury room.
A man named Kerr was on trial for
felonious assault, and after the jury
had been out for three hours sounds
were heard from the jury room indi-
cative of something more strenuous
than moral suasion. Shortly after the
jury filed in and the foreman, with
wild eye cleaning from under a pur-
plish cushion of swollen flesh, essayed
to render the verdict.
"Zhury f-f-f-fize defen't issutt," he
sputtered.
1.-THE court fails to understand the
verdict" said the judge with dignity.
'Issutt; zhury fize'm issutt," insist
ed the foreman.
The judicial brow was growing black
when up jumped No. 2
Please, you Honah, the foman
wants to say that the jury finds the
defendant innocent. an Begin yo'
Honah's pahdon he's dom the best he
kin, seem as how he didn't reach that
decision till he lost TO of his front
teeth"
Whereupon the defendant was duly
discharged.
Probably the most riotous proceed
tngs that ever took place in a Jury
room were the result of the trial of an
action growing out of a feud in a small
iowa town last IA Tho two 70, ,o{I{aS