Quote:
Originally Posted by signupdamnit
They were still permitted to make calls but it was in front of a deputy. If you think about it it is entirely possible to come up with code words or code phrases in advance to convey basic things such as which way the jury is leaning. For instance "If I bring up the car that means we are leaning towards acquittal. If I bring up the house that means we are leaning towards guilty".
Depending on how things were done there are other ways to convey messages too. For instance if there are visible windows and someone knows the floor and general area they are on there could be an agreement to do something like flash the lights in a predefined way as part of a code.
Could you also completely rule out listening devices too? I highly doubt they strip searched the jury. 
To a great extent you rely on the jurors not intentionally engaging in any misconduct. The only other way to stop that is total isolation in a prison with no outside contact and things like strip searches.  |
What I found interesting was just how much the jury got to do outside of the trial. It seems to me that it would be prudent to try and keep the jury as focused as possible on the trial but they had plenty of diversions.
They listened to testimony all day and then went bowling or took a trip to St. Augustine. I haven't seen either movie they watched but I'm guessing there was a gun used in one or both of them which could possibly influence a juror.
We have a long day at work, sometimes you want to put that behind you and relax by going out for a nice dinner and unwind by forgetting the day. The jurors got to do that too. I would think it would be a priority to keep the testimony in the forefront of the jury's mind and not find ways to let them forget it.
The juror that did the interview on AC360 said that when they went to deliberations they wanted to go through all the evidence again which is an indication that they hadn't weighed it, forgot it or wasn't paying attention when it was presented the first time.
Also worth noting is they only deliberated for a little over three hours before asking to call it a day. I don't know how much contact they can have while deliberating but if they have the same freedom they had during the rest of the sequestration it would certainly give time for any outside influence.
I realize we can't expect to have the jurors locked away somewhere in total isolation but I was shocked to learn just how much freedom they do have and just how vulnerable they are to outside influences if anyone were to try and break the rules.