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[–] 5 points 1 week ago* (7 children)

So 11 people decided her "hearing voices" was fine and one sane person said no way?

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  • [–] 25 points 1 week ago* (5 children)

    No, not at all.

    The choices the jury had were:

    Prison

    Involuntary Psychiatric Ward

    And the lone holdout actually wasn’t even advocating for prison, he wanted the death penalty (which isn’t possible in MA).

    Given that the lone juror was asking for something impossible, it might stand to reason that he might have been trying to get a mistrial to happen…

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  • [–] -3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

    So, no, they had 5 choices, one of which was completely not guilty. It was still a trial and the prosecution still had the burden of proof to prove she even did it in the first place.

    It seems 11 people were ready to vote not guilty entirely and 1 person refused to follow the law after expressing reasonable doubt which caused a mistrial.

    Also, my source of information in this instance was, in fact, a video recording of the judge giving the instructions to the jury at the beginning of the trial and before deliberations. It seems to me that you may want to check your sources, because they're incorrect and you're spreading harmful misinformation.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    They did not have five, technically they had three, none of which were “completely not guilty” as she had already pled guilty and did not dispute that she had committed the acts.

    They had guilty of murder, not guilty by reason of insanity, and involuntary manslaughter was added to try and help split the difference at the request of the defense. None of these would have resulted in her being free of consequences as you are implying.

    Your characterization of “following the law” being assigned to the juror who you agree with reveals your bias here, and you also seem to be under the impression that the jury had the authority to ignore her guilty plea. You should reconsider the source of your information.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    So, you're just wrong.... And loudly, which just makes it seem like you're purposely spreading misinformation. You can literally listen to the judge's instructions to the jury both at the beginning and end of the trial. He explicitly states that the state of Massachusetts is still required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did in fact commit the crime she was accused of regardless of the insanity defence. There were 5 possible verdicts read to the jury.

    Going for the NGRMI defense just means the state also have to prove she was in her right mind.

    The jury is charged, under oath mind you, to carry out the law as stated in the instructions given by the judge. If they have any reasonable doubt, they are instructed to find the defendant not guilty. A single juror expressed in deliberations that he had reasonable doubt but still refused to follow his oath and find her not guilty; the implication here is that the juror knowingly lied under oath to the judge about being able to carry out his duty under the law and torpedoed the trial based on personal convictions despite acknowledging reasonable doubt.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (1 child)

    We are on the same page here regarding the potential motivations of the final juror…

    Is there any source you can find that isn’t the defense itself for the not guilty verdict of the 11 jurors? Not saying it isn’t true but the defense would have reason to potentially misrepresent the reality of their discussions for the benefit of their position. I’d be curious to find out more.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    I'm sure we'll hear more about it as the jurors are interviewed by the media. The notes to the judge did not explicitly state the position of the other 11 jurors. The mention of reasonable doubt heavily implies that it would have been a not guilty verdict, as not guilty is the only verdict that would be appropriate if there were reasonable doubt.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 week ago*

    No, the trial is whether she gets sent to prison or to an asylum (mental health facility). Either outcome of this trial means she will be detained against her will for a long time. The lone juror wants her sent to jail, the other jurors want her to be sent to a mental health facility.

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