ShadyLady
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- Apr 3, 2013
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Yes, you are correct. They do it every time. But it is in the instructions and a foreman is the gatekeeper and somehow the court is failing to properly instruct those who have that position. It could very easily go the other way in terms of not being fair to the defendant. Hard to believe but it could because of them not following instructions. I don't think the foreman liked JM telling him there were no mitigating circumstances that pertained to the crime. I think he took that as "talking down to them" because the foreman had already made up his mind there were mitigation factors that he would consider. So the foreman (even though JM was telling him this) he decided to ignore what he was being told. Had the foreman been someone who felt the DP was appropriate they would have still deliberated until they were unanimous.
I bet the last question might have been about "trying to change opinions". How much could they debate. JSS told them they did not need to validate/justify their decisions, etc etc....I like to hear the final jury instructions again.