Jury returning to court room in John Mohammad (Washington DC sniper) Case. May have decision...

MSNBC cable news | Nov 21, 2003

[TomGuy]

Jury has asked to return to court room. They may have a decision.....

developing...

[hunter112]

Oh, well, there are at least three other states to try him in. He might just get the death penalty in Alabama, they're no nonsense there.

[Jonah Hex]

There are some real lulu's on this jury.

1:08 PM Nov. 21

The jury charged with deciding whether John A. Muhammad lives or dies for his role in last year's sniper shootings was sent home shortly after 1 p.m. and told to come back to court at 9 a.m. Monday.

A female juror asked Judge LeRoy Millette Jr. if she would be permitted to do legal research over the weekend. Millette emphatically told her that she was not to do any reading or Internet research that might relate to the case. He said she was required to base her decision on the evidence presented in court alone.

The woman persisted, asking whether she might be allowed to do research on cases other than this one. Millette insisted that she was not allowed to do any research.

Another juror, who had apparently planned to leave on a trip next week, told the judge, "My husband will kill me if I don't go on this trip." The judge told her that he didn't want to get involved with her personal situation, but that she had to be back Monday to continue deliberations.

[Coop]

Fox saying the jury is having a tough time finding a unanimous decision!

If we can't apply the death penalty in this gruesome case, it may as well be removed from the books for good.

[vox humana]

The woman persisted, asking whether she might be allowed to do research on cases other than this one. Millette insisted that she was not allowed to do any research.

This woman is an idiot. What person in their right mind would argue with the judge. She should have been found in contempt of court and sent to jail for the weekend to conduct her research.

[Boston Capitalist]

A man's life and justice for murder vicitms hangs in the balance and these people are worrying about their vacation.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Women jurors are a joke.

I wouldn't go that far. I'd say arguments from emotion have no place within a jury's deliberations. Women TEND to make these arguments more than men, in my experience.

Emotion has a place in the world -- it would be a dull world without it. And certainly jurors feel emotions when they listen to testimony. But a jury needs to consider evidence and the law, period. The voir dire process, in theory, should winnow these people out, but I don't have the highest confidence in voir dire. Look how well that worked for O.J.

I couldn't believe that any person in their right mind truly had a REASONABLE doubt that O.J. was guilty. I was stunned at the verdict, as I'm sure many Freepers were. Maybe that's why I read Ann Rule true crime books. She picks cases where the bad guy gets caught and punished, and where the police and prosecutors are the GOOD guys. I can't wait for her book on the Green River Killer. It probably won't come out for a year or two, however.

[Credo]

Yep. I think even MD would execute him. Actually, there's more on him in MD than VA and there's no issue of minority as there is with Malvo in MD. The only state that will execute Malvo is Virginia. Chesapeake will be a tougher jury pool than VA Beach in my opinion.

[kjam22]

Women jurors are a joke.

Yeah. I was a jury foreman once on a murder trial. The guy admitted to doing the deed. Demonstrated how he did it (8 inch knife through the heart). Was at the home of the deceased and trying to collect $400 on a bad drug deal,.... yet claimed self defense.

We all ridiculed this one hold out lady until she gave in.

[expatpat]

..and Clinton.

[MindBender26]

Remember the woman on Ken Starr's grand jury who showed up in the Star Trek uniform?

Adios, ASAP

[Think free or die]

Arghhh! These women give the rest of us a bad name. There's a place for emotion, but not as a substitute for facts and reasoning. I'd like to think my emotions would be in favor of the grieving families and the victims whose lives were cut short.

[marshmallow]

A factor which may also come into play on some occasions with women jurors is....ahem....the "appearance" of the accused. Looks. Style. Some women jurors have even been known to become infatuated with a handsome criminal. Muhammed is a clean cut, good looking dude and presents quite a figure in that suit, I imagine.

Asking some females to send a "hunk" to his death, is pushing dirt uphill, so to speak.

[longtermmemmory]

Does he not have more trials to go? I heard on the radio that some woman asked the judge if she could research the dealth penalty at home. Judge said no.

[kjam22]

Does he not have more trials to go? I heard on the radio that some woman asked the judge if she could research the dealth penalty at home. Judge said no.

Research the death penalty at home? For her that either means get on the internet and print some pictures of an electric chair.... or ask her husband what he thinks about it :)

[GETMAIN]

The woman persisted, asking whether she might be allowed to do research on cases other than this one. Another juror, who had apparently planned to leave on a trip next week, told the judge, "My husband will kill me if I don't go on this trip."

WTF???? I repeat, WTF?????

[longtermmemmory]

husband what kind of spouce is that? (/s)

[NEPA]

I agree with your view that it makes little difference as to whether jurors are male or female.

I had jury duty this week. It was a child molesting case. The girl was 7 to 9 years old when abused by her uncle. The guy and his wife were into S & M.

When the kid was finally able to spill the beans (at age 9) she described exactly what happened to her with too much detail to be explained away by an over active imagination. Besides the acts done to her she described in detail porno, ropes, locking wrist straps, vibrators, and other sex toys and what was done to her with them. The police found everything. A doctor's exam showed hymen damage, which the doctor said could only be caused by penetration.

I thought it was slam dunk, he's guilty. But others (mostly men) thought not and maybe 3 jurors weren't sure. One man said that as a former teacher he knows that even little kids know all about this stuff and accusing people of child abuse is common. He complained the man's life would be ruined, but even there is some truth to the allegations kids are resilient and she'll get over it. No big deal. Men and women agreed with him.

Oh, and the jury thought it was really funny that one of the jurors had the same porno in his collection.

We let a child molester go free. Male /female made no difference in the jury room.

[longtermmemmory]

This is all a mental warning to all who are on FR.

Serve when called for Jury duty.

[twigs]

How awful! What a discouraging story! I was on a jury in a criminal case, but it was, thankfully, unrelated to child molestation. But it did have a man abusing his girlfriend and there was a child around. We had one woman who wanted to right all the past wrongs by convicting the man, but the rest of us just overruled her. We weren't convinced he was innocent, but the prosecutor just didn't make the case. Presumption of innocence really means something. But the women on our jury were just as concerned to see justice done in THIS case as the men. No difference except the one, and we took care of her.