Opinion ID: 1801792
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Failure or Refusal to Deliberate

Text: At the reference hearing, Juror Jose S. testified that when deliberations began, he felt that death was the appropriate penalty. A straw vote taken early in the deliberations was 10 to two against the death penalty. Each juror then took three or four minutes to explain his or her position. Jose S. testified that he told the other jurors he was in favor of death, but also that he could change his vote if they gave him a sufficiently persuasive reason to do so. He listened to what the other jurors said, but he never changed his mind because the other jurors never persuaded him that death was not the more appropriate penalty. In her declaration, Juror Charlia S. stated: [Jose S.]'s behavior in deliberations was consistent with the determination he showed before deliberations began. He would not listen. He just kept pushing until all the votes were there for death. Juror Allen P. testified at the hearing that during penalty deliberations Juror Jose S. was a strong advocate for the death penalty. He recalled Jose S. saying he would not change his mind. He also recalled Jose S. engaging with other jurors and arguing his position in favor of the death penalty. The trial jury foreperson, John C., testified at the hearing that he did not recall juror Jose S. saying he would never change his vote. On the issue of penalty, all the jurors deliberated and expressed their views. Juror Kathleen K., testifying at the hearing, did not remember anything unusual about Jose S.'s participation in the penalty deliberations. Juror Andrew N. testified that during penalty deliberations Juror Jose S. announced: `I am not going to let you guys just get out of here because ofbecause you want to go home.' He did not recall Jose S. saying he would not change his vote, but Jose S. did say he would not change his vote `just because y'all want to go home.' According to his recollection, Jose S. talked a lot during deliberations, listened to the other jurors, and argued in favor of the death penalty. Juror Thomas S. testified that at the start of penalty deliberations Juror Jose S. announced he would only go for the death penalty. In his opinion, Jose S. did not deliberate but merely stuck to his position; Jose S. seemed to be completely inflexible. He testified that Jose S. did not explain the basis for his position on the penalty issue. Thomas S. testified that he had originally voted for life imprisonment without possibility of parole and that he regretted changing his vote. On this issue, the referee found that Jurors Jose S. and Andrew N. were credible witnesses. The referee gave less weight to the testimony of Juror Thomas S. and the declaration of Juror Charlia S., providing this explanation: Both [Charlia S.] and [Thomas S.] seemed to conclude that because [Jose S.] early on stated his position for the death penalty (as apparently did several other jurors) and never changed his mind (contrary to all the jurors who were initially against the death penalty), he failed to deliberate. The referee does not reach this conclusion. The fact that [Jose S.] never changed his mind does not mean that he did not listen to or consider arguments contrary to his position. The referee provided this summary of her findings on this issue: [Jose S.] did announce at the beginning of deliberations that he was in favor of the death penalty, but the evidence before the referee did not show by a preponderance of the evidence that he refused to consider other points of view. He participated in deliberations and interacted with the other jurors. He listened to them and expressed his own views. He did not refuse to speak to other jurors, and he did not separate himself physically from the other jurors.