Father’s Ailment Kept From Juror
Fearing a mistrial, a judge refused to tell a juror that her father had a heart attack. The man died hours later, just before the jury announced its verdict.
Judge Rex Stacey was told about the juror’s father Thursday during the murder trial of a Minneapolis man. Because two alternates had been sent home the previous day, stopping deliberations would have caused a mistrial, the judge said.
As soon as the jury delivered its verdict of guilty on all counts, the unidentified juror was ushered into the judge’s chambers where her husband broke the news that her father had died just minutes earlier.
The judge could have dismissed the woman and continued with just 11 jurors, but he felt that would be unfair to the defense.
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