Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Cameron Brown Retrial: No Hung Jury....Yet.

UPDATED!

It was quite hard getting up early this morning. (I've been sewing sometimes until almost 2 am, getting ready for my fleece and flannel blanket sale.) But I did make it down to the courthouse this morning to try to see if I could find out some more information on the jury.

The short report out by Denise Nix of the Daily Breeze on Friday that hinted at a deadlocked jury made me think that "possibly" the Judge might give an Allen instruction (also called Allen charge) to the jury.

When I arrived at 9:15 am inside 107 the gallery was empty. Judge Pastor was still on the bench, Ms. Benson was at her desk and Mavis, the lovely court reporter was working away at her station in front of the witness box. Unfortunately, I arrived just after the jury had entered to deliberate.

Ms. Benson told me the jury had just entered. She also asked me about Dr. Adams and if I had spoken to him recently. I told her no, but that I would have to send an E-mail off to him. Judge Pastor then said, "We do miss him terribly." He then went onto joke that if he didn't come back soon, he wouldn't be allowed back.

After Judge Pastor stepped off the bench, I asked Ms. Benson if the jury was read the "Allen instruction." She told me that no instructions were given to the jury today. So apparently, Judge Pastor gave them a long weekend off and they are back to deliberating. So it appears the jury is back to work. I said goodbye to Ms. Benson and Mavis then left 107 to take the train back home.

I will try to call the courtroom this afternoon to see if there have been any developments or requests sent out by the jurors.

UPDATE!

Looks like I missed the show this morning. Denise Nix has an update here.

10 comments:

Jesdamala said...

I hope the delay in a verdict is because a new juror need to be brought up to date, however....well....this has dragged on for years, and I am not up to date as to what the jury is being asked to declare, as the last jury, if this makes sense.

Tossing your own child off a cliff is alien to how most of us can imagine. Maybe that is the issue, the imaginable.

Anonymous said...

Sprocket, do you think the state has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt? If you do, what evidence did you find most compelling?

September

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting the update. I have been checking all day, I have to assume that they are vacillating between degree. Thanks also for the trip and pics of IP...very enlightening.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the update I have been checking all day. I am assusming they are vacilating between degree.

Anonymous said...

Sprocket, what do you know about Juror #4?

SeniorMoments

Sprocket said...

Hi SeniorMoments:

I don't know anything beyond what I've observed in the courtroom.

Sprocket said...

I will give my thoughts on whether or not the state proved its case once the trial is completely over.

Some of the most compelling evidence to me was Brown's behavior as witnessed by several of the first responders.

Understand these first responders confirm the behavior the Jeff Leslie (who testified about it) and his partner, Detective Smith (who was not called; he's retired and living in another state) experienced and wrote about in their report during the three hour interview.

The LAX video tape shows that months after the death of Lauren, Brown is lying about Sarah. He also lied to Detective Lillienfeld. In my opinion, it shows how much spite and vindictiveness he has towards her at that point in time.

I also thought the defense bio-mechanics expert came across as very credible on the stand.

I thought Mark Thompson (another defense witness that I haven't written my notes up on) was not believable.

Jesdamala said...

Oops, in my getting used to my new keyboard, I made a mistake in my previous post. I meant to say the "unimaginable", meaning who would think a father, even this father, could heave his daughter off a cliff. But hey, there is nothing in the world of today I won't believe. I am scheduled for Jury Duty downtown LA in a few weeks, and dreading it. The responsibility is overwhelming,

The more I have read about this, what is happening with the jury, I
truly think another hung jury is likely. Waiting....

Anonymous said...

What could this juror be so angry about that he's knocking over chairs in the courtroom? Is he just tired and just wants to go home/back to work? Or maybe, are other jurors stuck on certain opinions, and he feels there will be no resolution? Why, at this point, would anybody say they just don't care anymore?

Anxiously awaiting justice for Lauren and Sarah.

Susan said...

I think the upset juror is sure of what he believes and doesn't want to change his mind. In MY mind, after keeping up with this case since day one, is that the jury is stuck between 1st and 2nd degree murder charges.