Opinion ID: 217195
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Other Ten Jurors

Text: Over the next two hours, the trial judge, prosecutor, and defense counsel questioned each of the remaining jurors, one by one. Six jurors (Nos. 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, and 12) stated that, in their opinion, Juror No. 6 was not following the law. When questioned further, however, four of those six (Nos. 5, 7, 11, and 12) acknowledged that Juror No. 6 had never said as much, but two (Nos. 3 and 10) reported that Juror No. 6 had said, in essence, that he would not follow the law. The other four (Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 9) thought that Juror No. 6 was following the law, and, in the words of Juror No. 2, was being honest. Those jurors thought there was just a difference in opinion over how the law applied to the facts of the case. Juror No. 9, for example, explained that Juror No. 6 had tried to explain his view, but none of us really understood it the way he did. Only five jurors (Nos. 1, 2, 5, 7, and 11) mentioned jury nullification at all, of which just one (No. 2) thought Juror No. 6 might actually be engaging in the practice. Additionally, two jurors (Nos. 2 and 5) made comments to the effect that Juror No. 6 disapproved of the theory of accomplice liability. Six jurors (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11) explained that Juror No. 6 did not believe that the evidence was sufficient to prove guilt of murder beyond a reasonable doubt.