O.J.: Made in America

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Isn't that what reasonable doubt is? The idea that there's even a chance, in my mind, that the person isn't guilty?...

Jury nullification is most assuredly not the same as reasonable doubt.

Baby Lee's suggested a theory that's floated around the legal community since the verdict was read - that this jury simply didn't give a shit and was going to let him walk either way. Some argue celebrity or money, but the best argument was/is racial strife and this jury wanted a black man to beat the system that so often seemed stacked against them.

That has nothing to do with reasonable doubt (though I'd argue that your definition of it isn't accurate either; Baby Lee's followup response should be). That's simple, straightforward jury nullification and it absolutely ****s the legal process up.

The best, most recent example I can come up with was the 'loud music' shooter out of Jacksonville. The guy fires shots into the crowd after yelling at them for having their music too loud; in so doing, he hits a kid and the kid dies. In the first trial, the jury convicts him of attempted murder but not of murder, despite the fact that someone died as a direct result of the attempt they convicted him on.

Now, by law, that should've been impossible - second degree murder covers reckless indifference. If they found him guilty of attempted murder, they've hit the right mens rea and therefore it's theoretically impossible for 2nd degree murder not to have stuck if the attempt did and someone died.

That jury simply didn't want to send the guy away for life. So rather than find him guilty of attempt AND murder then turn it over to the judge for sentencing, they found him guilty of attempt and hung on murder thus putting a cap on what the judge could sentence him for.

Fortunately, the case was re-tried and the guy was actually convicted on 1st degree murder. But the first jury unquestionably went rogue and ignored Florida law and/or any verdict directors they were given.

I absolutely goddamn hate juries. They aren't attentive, they aren't open-minded and frankly, far too many of them are just stupid. I can't imagine having to deal with juries on any sort of high-profile case. Give narrow-minded and stupid the power of life and death and you just have a massive recipe for disaster.