“As a very naive watcher, how can a judge sense what the jurors are thinking? I’m sure this is true for a veteran judge, but I’m curious what he looks for or what he sees to believe a non guilty verdict. This is quite interesting. Thanks for your answer.”
Body language, attentiveness, note-taking. Still, you can never really tell until they deliver a verdict. I’ve seen a jury deliver a very obvious “not guilty” and have the judge tell them that they got it wrong, but it was their decision to live with. I could tell the jury was coming back with not guilty, but the guy arguing the case was 50/50, and he was looking them in the eyes all day.
Do jurors discuss the case among themselves daily, or only at the conclusion of the trial?
Thank you. IIRC, the majority of the jury is white. Is there any other information on them? I haven’t seen anything.
Many years ago when I lived in the State of Washington, there was a huge property rights case argued before the Washington State Supreme Court. A well-known known property rights organization was representing the landowners. I talked to their attorney and told him he would win either 9-0, or 8-1.
Went on to explain to him why each Justice w
ould cast their votes. This attorney wasn’t quite so confident.
The State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the landowner 8-0. The one justice who didn’t vote was running for governor and didn’t want to piss off either the environmental wackos or the property rights crowd.