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John Edwards : Juror Issues

Predicting what is going on behind the closed doors of jury deliberation is like reading tea leaves. Something is going on behind the scenes with the jurors in the John Edwards trial. What that might be is unclear.

The judge held another closed conference yesterday after a juror submitted a note. She also told the alternates they no longer have to report every day, they are now on "standby."

For once, the media seems to be unwilling to speculate. Why? Absence of facts has never stopped them before, especially if they can create a story that someone will be found guilty. [More...]

While its next to impossible to predict what a jury is thinking, maybe there are clues from the reactions of the lawyers.

The Judge's jury instructions went against John Edwards on every key issue. They fought tooth and nail to get the Judge to see the law the way they did, and failed. Given the judge's instructions, they have to fear a guilty verdict on at least a few counts.

If there were even a single hint of juror impropriety, I would expect Team Edwards to be filing motions daily, asking for a mistrial or at least for particular jurors to be excused and replaced with alternates. Now that they know how the judge sides on the key issues, they could better tailor their defense strategy at a retrial to fit the instructions.

The public hasn't seen the notes or been told the nature of the jury problems. But the judge has held at least three closed conferences with the lawyers, so they know what's afoot. They know whether the problems favor or go against their side.

Team Edwards hasn't filed a single motion or brief about the jury issues. (Had they filed something under seal, the docket should reflect it. And the docket shows nothing filed by either party since before any juror issue arose last week.)

Could Team Edwards' silence about the juror issues mean they believe they work in his favor? I think it's a fair possibility.

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