Q:Build a movie plot around this: Who did juror 8 exchange names with? Juror 9
A:
This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (August 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)When the final closing arguments in a murder trial have been presented to the judge, she gives her instructions to the jury, all of whom are men. In the United States, the verdict in criminal cases must be unanimous. A non-unanimous verdict results in a hung jury which in turn forces a mistrial. The question they are deciding is whether the defendant, a teenaged boy from a city slum, murdered his father. The jury is further instructed that a guilty verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory death sentence. Under current American criminal law, a defendant must first be found guilty, and then the jury in the sentencing phase must find an aggravating circumstance and unanimously agree to recommend the death penalty, if the state has the death penalty.[citation needed] The jury of twelve retires to the jury room, where they begin to become acquainted with their personalities and discuss the case.The story revolves around their difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict, mainly because of the personal prejudices of several of the jurors. An initial vote is taken and eleven of the jurors vote for conviction. Juror number 8, the lone dissenter, states that the evidence presented is circumstantial and the boy deserves a fair deliberation, upon which he questions the accuracy and reliability of the only two witnesses to the murder, the fact that the knife used in the murder is not as unusual as the testimony indicates (he produces an identical one from his pocket), and the overall shady circumstances.Having argued several points, Juror 8 requests another vote, this time by secret ballot. He proposed that he would abstain from voting, and if the other eleven jurors voted guilty unanimously, then he would acquiesce to their decision. However, if at least one...