Sex Abuse Scandal Rocks Penn State

I have not been reading the reports from the trial. I have just been patiently waiting for the guilty verdict. Why is there a concern over a mistrial or not guilty verdict? Seems from what I have seen that the evidence is overwhelming.
Simply because it is the American Judicial System.

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Yes, they just need one Penn State fan on the jury and it'll go to shit.

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Yes, they just need one Penn State fan on the jury and it'll go to shit.

You would think that the prosecution lawyers have already vetted the jury to avoid that prospect.

Hopefully no one in the sequestered jury heard the Matt Sandusky info because they may believe they need to hear more about that now, which I think could lead to mistrial. But what do I know, I'm not JoeLawyer up in this piece

You would think that the prosecution lawyers have already vetted the jury to avoid that prospect.

Yes, you would. No, they didn't:

Jury: (http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/06/12090544-jerry-sandusky-trial-many-jurors-have-penn-state-ties?lite)

A retired school bus driver, a Wal-Mart employee, a Penn State professor and a Penn State football season ticketholder since the 1970s. They are among the 12 jurors and four alternates selected to hear the child sex abuse case against former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Mistrial. Rinse, repeat.

Yes, you would. No, they didn't:

Jury: (http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/06/12090544-jerry-sandusky-trial-many-jurors-have-penn-state-ties?lite)

A retired school bus driver, a Wal-Mart employee, a Penn State professor and a Penn State football season ticketholder since the 1970s. They are among the 12 jurors and four alternates selected to hear the child sex abuse case against former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Mistrial. Rinse, repeat.

The voir dire is generally limited and the prosecution generally only has a limited number of strikes. They may have, in fact, been presented with worse candidates out of the pool.

Of course, the prosecutors may have exercised their judgment after interviewing the season ticket holder and the professor and found them to be favorable jurors (Maybe they are sickened by the stain on their work place or their team). It's easy to monday morning qb this stuff. If that's the best hope for a mistrial - I am far less concerned than others.

Has anyone here served on a jury? I have been on two - one in Federal court (a three week civil trial) and one in Baltimore City (a two day criminal trial). It was a fascinating experience and one which gave me a great deal of confidence in the jury system.

Sure, there are mistakes and, more often than you would hope, you hear about some big cases that seem to be decided wrongly (I say seem b/c often there are real and substantial reasons for what, at first blush, seems to be bad decision). Every day, however, hundreds (if not thousands) of juries across the country take their charges seriously and return just results.

Just once. The DA ( a newbie) carried some evidence into the courtroom and it was seen by everyone in the corridor leading to the court. Defense requested and got a mistrial.

Edit: RedskinRat beat me to it.

Like I said, I really hope they have plenty of evidence to get that guilty verdict, but in high profile cases like these I feel like the pressure is on the jury more than most cases, and that doesn't help.

Has anyone here served on a jury? I have been on two - one in Federal court (a three week civil trial) and one in Baltimore City (a two day criminal trial). It was a fascinating experience and one which gave me a great deal of confidence in the jury system.

Sure, there are mistakes and, more often than you would hope, you hear about some big cases that seem to be decided wrongly (I say seem b/c often there are real and substantial reasons for what, at first blush, seems to be bad decision). Every day, however, hundreds (if not thousands) of juries across the country take their charges seriously and return just results.

I did! And I got the worst thing a alternate. So i said throuhg 4 days of trails and at the end was asked to leave because they didn't need me.

Though it was rewarding to watch the process.