The "No" Juror
Take a look inside the jury room, where one dissenting vote prevented a death sentence for Zacarias Moussaoui. The shocking aspect is the anonymous "no" voter, blocking any sort of direct open debate on the issues. The "no" juror was able to hide in the room, never having to explain their reasoning, and the other jurors could do nothing about it.
Some might conjure up images of Henry Fonda, relentless in his dissention, but unfortunately, that was not the scene. No, the juror didn't have to articulate, didn't have to worry, just had to vote and let 11 other people sort it out.
|
The foreman said deliberations reached a critical point on the third day, when the process nearly broke down. Frustrations built because of the repeated 11 to 1 votes on one charge without any dissenting arguments during discussions. All the ballots were anonymous, and the other jurors were relying on the discussions to identify the holdout. |
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101884.html?nav=rss_nation