The Biggest Bully In the Room

By Trisha Renaud from Trial Advantage

May 1, 2010--Jurors these days seem to make news almost as much for their misbehavior as for the decisions they make.

First, there are a multitude of stories about jurors who refuse to follow the rules and use Google to satisfy their curiosity or hop on Facebook to share their opinions with all their Facebook "friends."

Occasionally, however, somewhat more lurid tales of jurors behaving badly are reported in the press.

These accounts of jury room conduct feature everything from incivility to threats to physical violence.

Consider these recent examples of 
deliberations-turned-ugly:

2008. Miami. After issuing a guilty verdict in four murders on a charter boat, three jurors announced that their verdicts had been the product of badgering and bullying.

They described how some jurors had pounded their fists on the table and shouted repeatedly.

2008. Washington. During deliberations in the federal corruption trial of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, jurors demand that one of their number be removed.

They wrote the judge to complain that the juror in question was "being rude, disrespectful and unreasonable.

She has had violent outbursts with other jurors and jurors are getting off course."

2009. New York. Lawyers waiting on a verdict in the suit against Merck over its osteoporosis drug Fosamax heard loud shouts multiple times coming from the jury room.

One juror sent the judge a note that read, in part: "I am being intimidated, threatened, screamed at, as well as verbally insulted that I am stupid because I do not agree.

I have had 2 physical threats against me, a chair thrown and a verbal threat to beat me up.

I need a police escort out of here.

And I am afraid to come back …"

2009. New Orleans. A juror on the murder trial of rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller said she changed her vote to guilty in order to end deliberations and stop the other jurors from tormenting a younger juror.

"This thing had to come to an end for this girl's health, her sanity," the juror told the Times-Picayune.

"They literally made this 20-year-old girl so violently ill. … She couldn't function anymore."

Added the juror: "My time in deliberations was a vacation in hell. People turned into monsters."

2009. New York City. In the high-profile Astor trial, one female juror reported that she felt personally threatened by another female juror who moved menacingly toward her and flashed "gang signs" her way.

Other jurors now dispute her account.

2010. Detroit. After a mistrial in a political corruption trial, jurors described six nightmarish days of deliberations.

"There was yelling and screaming and there were fights," the foreman told the press.

Another juror reported that the lone holdout--the only African-American on the panel--slammed down a binder on the table, accusing the others of wanting to "hang the black man."

The holdout now reports receiving harassing telephone calls and mail.