Bibles in the Jury Room
Yesterday, the Colorado Supreme Court threw out the sentence of a man who was convicted of raping and killing a cocktail waitress. The reason, because the jury consulted Bibles for wisdom in making it sentencing decision. Click here for story. On first blush, I thought this to be the right decision since he should be sentenced based on the law and not the old testiment.
The problem is that the judge in Colorado is required to instruct jurors to think beyond the bounds of the law and to make an individual moral assessment. So the jury is to be moral, but without any outside guidence as to that morality. Here are jurors making what amounts to a life or death decision, and told to do so in a moral way, but that morality must only come from what you brought to the table through your own memory.
The problem is that the judge in Colorado is required to instruct jurors to think beyond the bounds of the law and to make an individual moral assessment. So the jury is to be moral, but without any outside guidence as to that morality. Here are jurors making what amounts to a life or death decision, and told to do so in a moral way, but that morality must only come from what you brought to the table through your own memory.
posted by Peter Young @ 10:58 PM
6 Comments:
At 9:51 AM,
Philip Young said…
I'm surprised they consulted the bible and yet still gave him the death penalty.
At 10:27 AM,
magicalsprite said…
Of course they consulted the bible and gave him the death penalty. Religion has caused more death, war and persecution in this world than anything else. It's unfortunate that the "morals" of the bible are constantly debated and don't always come through the way they should.
At 4:34 AM,
Paul said…
I understand the Colorado State Supreme Court's decision on an intellectual level. It's a shame the jury went against the rules of the court of the state in order to make their decision. I assume it wasn't intentional or done with the lower court's permission as to knowingly place the jury's decision at risk.
How weak minded were these jurors? I mean, come on, if you know the Bible well enough to find the chapter and verse where it describes the good old "Eye for an eye..." chestnut of a motto, didn't you believe that before you walked into the jury room? Did you REALLY need to look it up? The dirtbag's conviction of kidnapping, raping, beating and killing one person and shooting and paralyzing another didn't provide enough direction? "Let's see, how many vote for 'eye for an eye' and how many vote for 'turn the other cheek'?"
At 5:16 PM,
Jason said…
Pete:
What was the actual sentence? Was it the death penalty? Was the death penalty an option in Colorado? Just curious. JF
At 5:27 PM,
Jason said…
Pete:
Alright, I went and, um, actually read the article, and therefore withdraw my question. I think you do point out an oddity, though: that any moral deliberation must be based on nothing beyond memory. That seems a bit odd. And I agree with Phil, that I'm surprised -- or better, dismayed -- that they consulted the Bible and still gave him the death penalty.
-JF
At 12:04 AM,
Peter Young said…
For those who are interested the case can be read at http://www.courts.state.co.us/supct/opinions/2003/03SA173.pdf
The article made a small error, the trial court itself overturned the jury verdict and sentenced the defendant to life without parole. It was the State who appealed. The trial court made it clear to the jury that they were only to discuss the evidence presented at trial.
The instruction on the morals of the sentence is not as broad as the article stated either. The instruction reads: you must still make a further individual moral assessment of whether you've been convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the death penalty instead of life in prison is the appropriate punishment.
The texts they used were Lev. 24:20-21 and Romans 13:1, favorites with the death penalty crowd.
The main thrust of the opinion is not about the Bibles but the availability of the testimony of the jurors to the defendant in an attempt to overturn his verdict and/or sentence. In Illinois there are cases which state that even if the jurors admit to smoking dope in the jury room, the verdict will stand.
One funny side note, one of the jurors was named Jesus.
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