Wednesday, September 19, 2012

DETROIT: Stealth Juror or One Angry Juror





I am still stuck on the juror issue subject; the lone, black female juror holdout against conviction even with overwhelming evidence of guilt.

Even though I have noticed this phenomenon for some time now, only recently has it become a much talked about issue when a mistrial was declared in an open and shut case against Bobby Ferguson for rigging city bids.

Now both the defense and the prosecution are aware of what they have called the “stealth juror”; a juror that lies to get on the jury for the express purpose of causing a mistrial or I suppose, a conviction but that would only apply to a juror that causes a mistrial by maintaining a guilty verdict opinion in the face of overwhelming evidence for innocence (acquittal)…which I have never heard of.

Anyhow, jurors are usually asked if they have been involved in litigation, a crime and an investigation or have been crime victims; all yeses to these questions can indicate potential bias and therefore you are usually removed from the jury pool.

In the case of the lone holdout in the Ferguson jury, when asked the usual questions; she remained silent and in essence therefore, she lied. Today, we know she was part of an investigation into licensing violations in her child care center, her husband was convicted of a drug offence and she and her husband had declared bankruptcy…if the judge or lawyers knew her history, she would have been sent home immediately.

What motivated her to lie under oath to get on a jury to cause a mistrial in an obviously open and shut case of guilt? Some say that because she has been on the wrong side of the law on various occasions or our legal system found her on the wrong side of the law; she may have felt a grievance against the law and a connection to the defendant who broke the law and therefore felt obligated to “stick it to the man”.

OK, I am starting to get a feel for why these jurors do what they do and it may be considered a “cultural thing” between people that have been “against” the law together; kindred spirits.

OK, how to prevent this from happening again; send her ass to jail for a couple of years for perjury and other jurors with similar intentions will have a lesson to be learned before them…

The jury in the Kilpatrick, et. al. racketeering trial has been picked (50% minority jurors so he would have no reason to appeal). In this case the jurors were questioned at length and had to fill our extensive questionnaires…so let’s see what happens…

Note: If you get a chance to see the 50s black & white movie, TWELVE ANGRY MEN, see it, it is a classic and quite remarkable. Not to spoil it but 11 men were convinced of guilt and one, lonely holdout was not AND SO he convinced the other 11 of the defendant’s innocence.










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