I must be in the minority about the jury and verdict, which is OK, I'm quite accustomed to being there.
I think she's going to get the DP. And I don't think jurors were swayed in any meaningful way, if at all.
I've really tried to put myself in their place. They were instructed that she has been convicted of premeditsted, first degree murder, and that she killed him in an especially cruel way. They have seen the photos that conclusively prove that cruelty.
They were also instructed that they MUST accept that verdict. That their job was to listen to mitigation and weigh whether or not she deserves life rather than the DP.
OK. They hear one week of recap, a very abbreviated version of what happened and who is who. Many of us thought that the recap was likely confusing to these new jurors. As in, where di we come in?
Then heartbreaking VIM's, which left every single juror crying or stunned. Awful. Reality sets in.
Imagine sitting there for what came next. The court room cleared, the murderer on the stand and then not, delays, days upon days off, attorneys up talking to the judge every few minutes. Nothing gets explained.
Then, this witness, who seems to want to only talk about sex and to speak ill of the dead, of the murder victim. For days. If they're focused on their duty they are asking themselves....what are we being told here about mitigation?
For most, I bet its beyond their comprehension that they're being told her mitigation is that the victim may or may not be a pedophile. The quack spoke almost not at all of physical abuse. It was sex sex sex and the victim's dark side , his hiding and shaming a 3 hole wonder.
They got to ask questions. IMO they asked the questions they did because they're trying to make sense of how talk of a Mormon boyfriend in a 5 month long relationship having some issues is relevant. Where is the part about her feeling sorry? Remorse? Anything?
By any objective measure that quack was a disaster for the defense, and besides a murderer, that's about all they have. JM is brilliant, he knows how to read juries, and he has to convince a jury of one single truth- that she doesn't deserve their mercy.
As long as there aren't any stealth jurors, Im actually increasingly confident she'll get the DP.