When the verdict was announced, many were stunned – one juror in the Aurora Theater shooting case refused to give James Holmes the death penalty because of his mental illness. Two others were uncertain but were willing to continue talking about it, said Juror 17, who declined to give her name but admitted that she was the holdout.
After three months of trial and quick determinations in the first two phases of the trial, the jury deliberated for seven hours before determining that a unanimous death sentence decision would not be reached.
And for many, the obvious thought was whether the outcome was pre-planned by the holdout. It is not unusual for a potential juror to seek selection for juror duty with the intent to promote a certain political agenda.
This disregard for the law and the instructions of the court is clearly evidenced by activists who attempted to distribute jury nullification information at the Denver courthouse. Two men were arrested for distributing jury nullification literature outside the Denver courthouse. Jury nullification happens when jurors refuse to convict despite the evidence to send a social message or because they believe a law is unjust.
The arrests prompted a lawsuit, filed by attorney David Lane on behalf of Eric Verlo, Janet Matzen and the Fully Informed Jury Association, naming the city and Chief Robert White as defendants. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to bar police from arresting people handing out information to potential jurors, saying their First Amendment free speech rights have been violated. Lane is also defending the two activists in the criminal case.
The lawsuit argues that the arrests of the two men have chilled the plaintiffs from “engaging in the constitutionally protected activity of handing out literature and engaging in conversations with passers-by for fear they will be arrested.”
However, for those of us who depend upon the rule of law to seek a fair trial for our clients, the advocating to replace law and legal instructions with juror’s own personal biases is the antithesis of justice.
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