The jury may only consider the charges brought forth by the government; they cannot agree to invent their own charges they believe is more suitable. When have you ever heard differently?
they should have been allowed to consider a lesser charge.
I am not sure of the decision making process as to who is responsible for such determinations, be it the DA or the Judge, or both. But I have served on a jury and there were multiple charges:
Vehicular manslaughter, with reckless endangerment, Vehicular manslaughter and a third lesser charge (I do not recall that third charge).
In our instructions we were told we should start with the most serious charge and if we did not agree we could consider the lesser charges. We argued for three days and finally agreed on Vehicular manslaughter.
This also was in California, as was the crime we are discussing. It seems to me that if we could consider a lesser charge, then this jury should have also been given this option. The mistake was either by the DA the Judge or both.
There is no doubt because of the activist nature of the Homolobby in this area, that the DA went for the jugular. This may have been his mistake.
I think we both agree, that these four guys should be in jail and our discussion is one of dealing with the finer points and not with the general principles involved here. I also appreciate that your tone, for the most part, has matched mine. That of trying to be civil and not insulting. Intelligent people should be able to have that type of dialog. I see that some here have not been able to do so, which reflects negatively on them.