Snipped by me.
For sure. I pray for the jury and their family daily. If you've not read this article by one of Wendi Andriano it's very telling:
http://www.nlada.org/DMS/Documents/1106668066.47/0124deathjurors24.html
A few extracts:
One juror felt his knees shaking as he sat down to decide if an Ahwatukee Foothills woman should live or die.
Another says she spent the evening before the death penalty deliberations eating saltines and vomiting.
A third says she flashes back to the case, which featured a murder inside an apartment, every time she drives past an apartment complex.
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The first couple of weeks, it was kind of interesting," said juror Tanner Catalano, 27, of Gilbert.
"After it started to set in that you had to make a decision like this, it became overwhelmingly stressful."
Catalano and some of his peers on the jury argued that it is fairer for 12 everyday people to decide a death sentence than one judge. "A lot of things in life are hard. This is your duty," he said.
Catalano played ice hockey to relieve the tension but said a rule that bars jurors from discussing a case with others forced him to keep his emotions private.
"I'd walk around in a daze and people would say, 'What's wrong with you?' You can't tell them why," he said.
And then there's this:
That 78 percent rate contrasts sharply with the sentences of Maricopa County Superior Court judges, who imposed death in 15 percent of cases from 1995 to 1999, according to 2002 report by the state Capital Case Commission.
Different parts of the case resonated with jurors. Some said they were moved by Andriano's plea for life during the mitigation phase on Dec. 16, just before the final deliberations, while others considered it an Academy Award acting job.
"I just thought, 'What an act you're putting on, honey,' " Fobes said. "She was such a liar. How could you believe anything she told you?"
The jury delivered the death penalty verdict Dec. 22.
"Walking in there with that verdict, I was shaking like a leaf," Erke said, the daunting power of deciding if someone lives or dies overwhelming him. "It's 'Oh, my God, it's really happened.' "
Most are still mulling over their decision, but only one juror, a young nurse, expressed doubts.
"Sometimes, I think I'm too hard-hearted," Fobes said. "But she didn't feel any sympathy for him (the husband)."
Percy said a telling look from Andriano was reassuring after a clerk read the verdict.
"She gave us a look like, 'How dare you?' " Percy said. "I thought, 'I made the right decision.' "
I can't risk the usual delay.... that would be my luck. See you all later!
