I've been lurking on this and the "smokey backroom" thread today, but I want to comment on this. I recently served on a jury for a semi-noteworthy murder trial in NYC, we found the defendant guilty, but myself and at least one other juror cried after the verdict was read. I understand that some of the juries in this case cried as well, and several posters have suggested that the jurors must have felt compelled to convict an innocent man. I don't know exactly what they were thinking, but in my case, I cried because the magnitude of the situation was overwhelming -- a woman was stabbed to death, her estranged boyfriend did it, and they had a three-year-old child who would live her life with one parent dead, and the other parent in prison. I had no doubts whatsoever as to the murderer's guilt, and after hearing about the evidence we didn't get to hear in trial, I felt even better about my vote.
And one other thing -- I've often heard it said that if the jury looks right at the defendant before delivering the verdict, they think he's innocent, and if they look away, they're going to vote him guilty. I looked straight at the defendant the whole time the verdict was being read, as I thought he might rush security and try to make a run for it!