Approaching a verdict, take 2
The jury is still deliberating in the Holy Land Foundation trial in Dallas. A reader who has been in the courtroom for the trial writes in response to my comments last night in "Approaching a verdict." I thought that the jury was probably leaning toward convictions and that a problematic juror who prompted the judge's Allen charge was a holdout. Our reader's observations play off the Dallas Morning News account of yesterday's proceedings. Our reader seems to misconstrue my post but to support my hunches. Her message in any event provides an interesting eyewitness report:
Why do you think the prosecutor’s objection to the timing of the charge the Judge gave indicates that the jurors might not have been considering convictions?It seemed to me that the only reason a juror would refuse to vote is not wanting to take responsibility for convicting. Refusing to vote doesn’t really work in the reverse. I was in the courtroom and saw these jurors many times over about six weeks. My best guess is that one—and I saw at least three that might cop this refusal—is not wanting “to judge” these men. But the others looked like they understood fully what it meant when kindergarteners at their U.S. fundraisers (or at the kindergartens in Gaza HLF supported) entertained the crowd by singing songs about how they wanted to become martyrs in the Jihad and kill Jews. I think most of that jury understood what that means to a human being growing up under an indoctrination of hatred of others.
The first report that came out—the AP report which has consistently been shallow depth reporting in this trial—did not go into any of the options that the Judge has besides what he told this jury about how they would have to try the case over at great expense to both the government and the defense. The Dallas Morning News coverage actually went into two other options the judge has before he shuts this trial down, and one of those is bringing in yet another one of the alternates.
I don’t know which alternate juror was brought in last Wednesday. Of the three alternates was the worst juror—a lady who looked like she was sleeping or at least drowsing the whole trial—and the best juror, a man who paid keen attention and didn’t mind scrutinizing the defendants, the lawyers and the Muslim spectator gallery. He looked ex-military. If the alternate that went into the trial last Wednesday was the sleeping woman, then she is probably the one refusing to vote. If one of the two men were sent in, then there are two men on the regular jury that I would suspect as being the ones who are refusing to vote.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in that jury room. There has been almost zip coverage of this trial….too bad there won’t be any journalists tracking them down after the trial to get the scoop on what went on like there have been in some of the high profile celebrity trials. Priorities.
