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| Monday, January 22 Associated Press | |||
| CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The jury foreman in the Rae Carruth
murder trial praised his colleagues for their ability to focus on
key evidence in the complicated case and come to a united, not
compromised, verdict.
Foreman Clark Pennell said Saturday that the jury worked
together to reach a verdict that didn't force any one in the group
to surrender his or her individual principles. He took issue with
opinions raised by some legal experts that the split verdict was a
compromise so a sharply divided panel could avoid becoming a hung
jury.
"I don't think there is anyone on the jury who could not look
you right in the eye and say they felt we made the (right)
decision," he said.
"I can only answer for myself, but at no point did I feel I was
ever compromising my position. There may be others on the jury who
considered that they compromised, but we came to all of our
decisions together."
On Friday, the seven-man, five-woman jury acquitted the former
NFL player of first-degree murder but convicted him of three other
charges, including conspiring to kill his pregnant girlfriend, who
was ambushed and shot in her car in November 1999.
Carruth, who turned 27 Saturday, faces up to 25 years in prison,
legal experts said. A sentencing hearing was set for Monday.
Cherica Adams, 24, was mortally wounded in an attack prosecutors
said Carruth set up to avoid paying child support. Prosecutors said
the former Carolina Panthers wide receiver used his white Ford
Expedition to block Adams and set her up for the kill by a hired
gunman, Van Brett Watkins.
The verdict came after about 20 hours of jury deliberations over
four days.
"None of us felt Carruth was innocent of any of this, but
because there were so many unanswered questions, we couldn't
convict him of first-degree murder," juror Susan Childs told
WSOC-TV in a news conference from her Pineville home Saturday.
Reached by telephone at his Charlotte home, Pennell said the
jury did not immediately take a vote after getting the case
Tuesday.
"We went through our notes for about 20 or 30 minutes, then we
started our discussions," he said. "We had a huge amount of stuff
we needed to go through."
With Pennell in charge, the jury went through each of the
questions they had about the evidence in the long trial.
Pennell, 52, a manager of furniture services for Crisis
Assistance Ministry, a nonprofit agency that assists the needy,
said the work was methodical and productive.
"We didn't take a vote until 15 to 20 minutes before we sent
out our first note to the judge (at noon Thursday)," he said. "We
felt we were at an impasse and we wanted some additional
instructions."
Pennell said the jury made a pact not to disclose the numerical
breakdown on the first of the two votes it took during the
deliberations. While the jurors were divided on the initial secret
ballot, he said, they were not a hung jury.
After Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm sent them back to
continue their deliberations Thursday, jurors went back and started
from scratch, Pennell said. They did not talk, but each juror
quietly reviewed his or her notes again.
Just before the jury was about to go home Thursday night, the
members decided to "try to look at the flip side" of the issues
that divided them. When they gathered Friday, it was a very
productive meeting.
"Some voices were raised, but it was the kind of discussion
where you speak loudly to make your point," he said.
| ALSO SEE
Carruth sentenced to nearly 19 yearsJury: Carruth guilty of conspiracy, but not murder | ||