This trial will go another day
Another day without a verdict or a declaration of a mistrial. How much longer will this go? The jurors have now deliberated for 30 hours and 30 minutes. I am just wondering if they will come back tomorrow with either a decision or a, We just can't decide. If they do that, will the judge call this thing?
Well, I know one thing for sure, we will all be back tomorrow at 9:30. One of the alternates has an engagement in the morning - remember the false alarm from yesterday afternoon. But Cayer is going to ask all but him to return at 9:30 a.m. when deliberations will continue. I will post something in the morning. Still waiting for that red light. I hope everyone has a good evening.
Well, I know one thing for sure, we will all be back tomorrow at 9:30. One of the alternates has an engagement in the morning - remember the false alarm from yesterday afternoon. But Cayer is going to ask all but him to return at 9:30 a.m. when deliberations will continue. I will post something in the morning. Still waiting for that red light. I hope everyone has a good evening.
posted by THE HICKORY DAILY RECORD at at
4:52 PM
24 Comments:
I,for one believe this jury will remain "hung". I do not forsee two people so adament, changing their minds at this point. If by chance they do I feel it will for the sake of a "verdict" only. The other ten will either run them down to that point.I am sure they are tired of bickering and trying to prove their points to one and other.I would hate to be those people at this point in time...I wonder what goes through their heads at night when the get home. How hard must it be to remain vigilant and silent to outsiders,even your own family about the deliberations or the trial itself??? If you were in their shoes what might you be thinking or doing?
Larry-If we are talking about the same murder in the 1970's, I was a neighbor of that girl who was horribly killed. I work with her brother now. Did you know that the 2 escaped convicts that murdered her were on death row for over 20 years before they were executed. The girl's mother died before she could see justice done. That's really sad.
How could all but one juror be asked to return at 9:30 to resume deliberations??? In my opinion it should be all twelve jurors involved in deliberations at all times..An alternate could not be asked to step in at this point unless this man is dismissed. That would be the law. Even if he is one of the "TEN" his input could have impact on the persuasion of the "TWO"adament on their descision to remain with their verdict...HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..... Food for thought...Either way I belive they will remain "hung" unless this Judge is adament on them reaching a unanimous descision and keeps returning them to deliberate.I can see that scenario taking place too...Any takes on that people????
Yeah Poohbear her name was Naomi but I can't remember her last name. She was working at the Foxwood resturant that sat there where CVS is right now. They did set on death row for a lot of years and that is the reason that the death penalty is not a deterent for criminals. We need to change the laws so that they get an appeal to the appeals court, the state supreme count, the Federal court and then it's over. I think that if they made it mandantory for the courts to review these cases first and put a time limit on the review process then we could expedite the penalty.
For me prison would not be a life but for some people it's better than the life they have and some comdemed to death prisoners have even sued the system for the right to die. Isn't that sad, that the criminal justice system has to be sued to be made to carry out its duty?
Just as a side note; someone stole my riding mower while I was gone to Virginia last week. They took it right off the carport. They sent the sherriff deputy down here today and well do you think I'll ever see my lawn mower again? That would be a big ole, "Heck No".
Craig it was an alternate who is not coming til later.
Larry, her name was Rolon, Naomi Rolon.
Larry, if the thinking is the same as it was for Emily Anderson, because she had been married five times it's her fault she was murdered.
Then it is your fault the mower was stolen.
Why did you leave it out to tempt some poor soul who needed a mower?
You know James I've live here on Dry Ponds Road for most of my life and never had anything stolen. I guess it's time huh? Times are sad, and things have changed a lot around here. Used to you could go off and leave the front door open and never worry
Larry,
I think we all want to go back to a better time.
Time was people didn't get off when they did something wrong, they got hard time for stealing.
I don't know the answer to the crime problem.
Well guys another day without a verdict-I can hardley believe we have went this LONG. I believe this is getting to be ridiculous-what point is Judge Cayer trying to make? As if one has to ask. It is almost like he is holding these jurors "hostage" until they can agree. In my opinion it does'nt really matter what HE thinks the verdict should be or even that he thinks they should be able to reach a verdict-the DECISION is the jury's and theirs alone-otherwise why even have a jury? I believe the foreperson should be more forceful and direct in her communications with the judge when she tells him they CANNOT reach a decision-CANNOT AND WILL NOT reach a decision instead of just saying we are unsure what to do at this point-I really even hate to criticize-I know they are under tremendous stress and she is doing the best she can...I am just saying.. craig..if I were in the jurys shoes I definitly would have STROKED OUT by now argueing with these people!!!! Did anyone else hear on the news where they said the trial has already cost 1 MILLION dollars-how sad to keep wasting money day after day.
I think this jury is hung and with out hope of change.
They are doing what they were chosen to do.
Interpret the evidence with their own judgement.
I say let them go, they have done their civic duty.
If they are hung, then will the judge poll them at the end?
James,
I'm with you! But, I do believe that the Judge is making sure that Jerry gets a fair trial. I have no idea which way the majority of the jurors are leaning (and it really doesn't matter to me)but if they can't reach a verdict, then this trial should be declared over and the state should re-group, gather evidence the proper way and re-try Jerry. I wasn't there when the murder took place. So for certain I can't say who did the dirty deed. But I can say that "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, IT IS PROBABLY A DUCK!" Now the State needs to check for feathers.
Lee, can the judge poll the jury if it is a hung jury?
I wished Anderson had taken the stand.
I know he didn't have to but it sure would have been interesting.
James,
I am not from NC and I don't know for sure what the law will allow. But I think I read that the Judge WILL Poll the jury, if it is a "Hung Jury". Then the State must decide whether to retry the case.
If I were accused of a crime that I didn't commit, I would scream to the top of my voice, on the stand, that I was not guilty. I do know that a person can not be forced to testify at his/her own trial. But, if not guilty, I think I would be able to convince the jury that they had the wrong person.
I still believe that there was more than one person involved and it just might have been a woman. I don't know who that might be, but I do know that there are a few women that appear to worship Jerry and may know things that should have been told.
I think Anderson would demand to know how the jury was hung, if for guilty or innocent.
I'm with you about taking the stand.
You know Larry, there was another girl killed in Caldwell County around the same time, give or take a couple of years. Sandra Bryant was found under a wash tub on the Dry Ponds Rd. Her name was Sandra Bryant. I remember her from elementary school. Apparently, she was sexually assaulted and mutilated in an old gambling shack on the Goat Farm Rd. and then disposed of on the Dry Ponds Rd. I know a girl who heard her step-father talking with another man about doing the killing. I advised her to call the CCSD and she said that she did. But they said that since she was so small when she heard them talk about it, it would be too hard to prove. My thought was, did they even try? The other was a Gary Sturgill that was shot and left to bleed to death in his car at some drinking hole in CC. His murder was never solved either. Sad isn't it. Sandra Bryant was a sad case. She was very poor, not pretty, and had a speech impediment. Not one of the pretty or prominent people.
If the jury does come back without a verdict, I hope Bellas/Gaither think long and hard about spending another million dollars on this case. It's too bad they didn't try to convict him on manslaughter in the first place, but at this point, I don't think they can change the charge. If they have to re-try him on First Degree murder they have a LOT of work to do. Bellas can patch some of the holes in his case with a second trial, but can he patch enough to get a conviction? Is it worth it to the state of NC to spend another million dollars on a case that they probably can't win? I'm sure Jerry's attorney's will be patching up any holes in their arguments as well and will come out just as strong next time as they did this time. If the state decides not to re-try.. there will never be closure. That would be sad but sometimes you have to cut your losses and fold.
I believe skyblogger has made a good point about the jury foreman. If the jury is currently 10 (not guilty) and 2 (guilty), which after listening to the prosecution’s evidentiary fiasco I personally can’t fathom it being the opposite. One would have to wonder if the problem could be the passiveness of the foreman to push the point to these two members of the jury. I can understand developing an opinion, however, when the jury goes over and over and over the case it is curious as to why only 2 jury members would be so persistent. Could it be that the foreman and other members in agreement are simply not being confrontational enough about the issue? I know their all under a lot of pressure, but I wonder if these questions have been asked of the two. Why do you believe JA is guilty? What specific part(s) of this trial do you base your decision upon? Are you so convinced JA committed this crime, your willing to send him to death row? In my opinion pointing out reasonable doubt in any part of this trial shouldn’t be a problem since the prosecution’s case was built upon it. Sometimes a good in your face "What are you thinking" can help others see the light, especially in this case where there is no physical evidence and only theory exists.
Get Real..
I'm not sure it's the job of the foreperson to push points to the hold-outs. It's the duty of the entire jury to come to a unanimous decision. The foreperson is just a spokesman for the group, not their leader. The foreperson did come back to the judge and say that she felt the hold-outs weren't basing their decisons on the evidence or the law (from HDR). From that statement, it sounds to me like the 10 have tried everything they can think of to convince these 2 to no avail. I think the 2 hold-outs are much like some of the bloggers who believe in thier guts that Jerry is guilty and no amount of talking, debating, or arguing will change their minds.
It's funny that all of a sudden these unsolved murder cases are coming into the open. I had a cousin from CC that was murdered...somewhere....but found in Florida shot to death and floating in a pond. The thing about this case was, most people who knew my cousin, knew exactly who commited the murder but nothing was ever done, no investigation ever proceeded to even try to find some evidence linking this person to the murder. This probably happened back in the 70's; I was young then and only remember scraps of what I heard adults talking about. But it does make one wonder about how investigations work or even if there is anyone with enough gumption to do an investigation. Could it be that there are a lot of officer's in prominent people's pockets? We need to check for strings on some officials?????
Justwatchin -
Upon entering the jury room to deliberate, the jury selects a foreman, whom may be either a man or woman juror.
It is the foreman's duty to act as the presiding officer, to see that the jury's deliberations are conducted in an orderly fashion and to see that the issues submitted for the jury's consideration are fully and fairly discussed and that all jurors have a chance to say what they think upon every question. When ballots should be taken the foreman should see that this is done, and should sign any written request made of the judge.
The foreman's responsibility is to keep the discussion in due bonds, to save time and to secure efficient results.
While you are correct that it is not the Foreperson's responsibility to push points to the hold-outs, they are the chosen leader in deliberations.
Glad you're here to keep us straight soccerjock.
That's a lot of responsibility to put on one person. When you think about it, 12 total strangers come together and have to decide which of them will take the lead. With very limited knowledge of one another, I can see how selecting a foreperson would be very arbitrary. It also leads me to wonder where this deliberation would be if one of the hold outs were the foreperson.
Justwatchin - Actually it is not that difficult as you know the Jury is made up of a diverse group of people in the area. Factory Workers, Business Professionals, Teachers, Students, Doctors etc... Out of those groups of people you have different personalities. When you put those types of personalities in one room usually it is easy to see and pick out the natural born leader.
Anyone have any idea of what is going on?
It appears the jury foreman and others in agreement are going to put some points of interest/reasoning on paper and given that a flip chart has been requested, tell you it’s going to be written in big bold print for all too clearly see. One thing for sure, we know there not using the chart to list the items of physical evidence; they wouldn't need any paper for that!
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