Word: verdict
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...sure bet to beat the less likely charge that he had murdered his own wife. Since there was not even any public evidence that she had died unnaturally, the case against Coppolino seemed flimsy indeed. Yet last week, when the twelve male jurors in Naples, Fla., returned their verdict after less than four hours of deliberations, the retired physician was pronounced guilty of second-degree murder...
...Death Verdict? To greater or lesser extent, all of these factors weighed in the Speck voir dire. For his part, State's Attorney William Martin, 30, took a cool approach. "Where the crime speaks for itself," he said, "it is not for us to seek the sympathy of the jurors." Though he was searching for the relatives of policemen, nurses and young girls, Martin mainly focused on reactions to the most important question: "Do you have any conscientious or religious objections to the death penalty...
...answer by itself did not satisfy Martin. He rejected many a positive-sounding venireman because his manner showed a sign of unsureness that might possibly aid the defense. To confirm it. he asked: "Would you sign a verdict of death?" Faced with that specter of personal responsibility, some veniremen backed down...
Getty then went over all the possible verdicts Speck might receive, asking whether the venireman would be willing to sign "not guilty" if he was in doubt and whether he would accept a jail sentence instead of death if Speck was found guilty. The venireman insisted that he could sign "not guilty," and that he could agree to a jail sentence. Getty asked the question again; suddenly the man did a turnabout, blurting out that the only verdict he could accept was the death penalty. Excused, for cause...
...sense it. This man was a killer, and I just had to get it out into the open." In his questioning, Getty appealed over and over again to pride, looking ahead to the moment when the jury retires to begin its deliberations. "You are going to reach a verdict out of the depths of your own mind and conscience, aren't you? You wouldn't let someone sway you?" Prosecutor Martin needs twelve unanimous jurors to win a verdict; Defender Getty needs only one stubborn holdout to hang the jury-and retrials often favor the defendant...