'What’s the Longest Jury Deliberation in History?'
'Official statistics aren’t kept on jury deliberations, but in 2003, a jury in Oakland, California deliberated
55 days before acquitting three police officers accused of assaulting and falsely arresting residents. In Tarrant County, Texas, one of the longest jury deliberations in memory occurred in 2006 when a jury deliberated
six days before convicting Rev. Terry Hornbuckle of sexually assaulting three women.
Predicting Verdicts Based on Length of Jury Deliberations
Some believe short deliberations mean jurors have found the defendant guilty, while longer deliberations mean they are leaning towards acquittal. Despite these theories, trying to predict the length of jury deliberations is generally a futile effort. Consider this:
- A Minnesota jury deliberated a little over 10 hours before convicting Derek Chauvin of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
- It took a federal jury four days find Paul Manafort guilty of eight counts of financial crimes on an 18-count indictment.
- It took a Texas jury 2 ½ hours to find Eddie Ray Routh guilty of capital murder for the deaths of American Sniper Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield.
- After 35 hours of deliberation over nine days, a California jury acquitted actor Robert Blake of killing his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.
- A California jury deliberated nine hours before convicting doctor Conrad Murray of unintentional manslaughter in the death of pop star legend, Michael Jackson.
- A Florida jury deliberated 16 ½ hours before acquitting George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin.
- A California jury deliberated less than four hours before acquitting O.J. Simpson of murder in the deaths of his wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
- A Florida jury deliberated less than 11 hours before acquitting Casey Anthony of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
- A Pennsylvania jury deliberated more than 20 hours over two days before convicting Jerry Sandusky of sexually assaulting 10 boys.
- It took a California jury seven days to convict Scott Peterson of murder in the death of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son.
- A Texas jury deliberated eight days before acquitting Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price of bribery and mail fraud.
It is safe to assume that jury deliberations may take longer in complicated cases with multiple defendants, counts or charges, which will require longer jury instructions. Still, there is no “average” jury deliberation and the time-frame is anyone’s guess.'
'The Allen Charge aka the Dynamite Charge'
cont:
Is the length of jury deliberations an accurate predictor of verdicts in criminal trials? Learn more about the length of deliberations and hung juries.
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