How ironic that 'flipping the bird guy' got more time than ICA will. He's still in jail, btw. He deserved that sentence, but the irony is rich indeed.
I never liked this judge. Everyone else seemed to think he was wonderful, but when I learned he disallowed the state from keeping off a juror who "did not believe in the DP" on a DP case, I knew the state wasn't on an even playing field. Further, he allowed a woman on the jury who "didn't like judging people." He wouldn't accept the state's challenge of her (he suggested racial reasons). Huh? He allowed jurors who had previous (negative) dealings with L.E. or who had family members who had those dealings or who had prior criminal records.
It is said that a case is won or lost the moment a jury is selected. Judge Perry helped ensure that this jury was NOT death-qualified, he allowed jurors who said they did not want to judge, and a few other factors I found strange at the time.
Therefore I hold JP responsible, at least partially. Then, when it was clear that there might be juror misconduct (jurors discussing the case amongst themselves), he ignored it.
Sequestration (again, ironically) had the opposite effect of what was intended.
YES, the jurors discussed this case during the trial.
Shame on JP and shame on everyone who did not follow the rules. I never ever thought I'd see another travesty like what occurred in the O.J. trial. How naive I was. This was O.J. Part Deux.
