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Few Pleased With Late-Night Jury Deliberations in Jeffrey Conroy Trial

Posted April 17, 2010 by Ted Hesson
Categories: Hate Watch

Last night, jurors in the trial of Jeffrey Conroy deliberated until after 10pm, spending most of the latter part of their night listening to a read-back of lengthy testimony by Suffolk County Police Detective John McLeer.

Conroy is accused of stabbing and killing Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero in a November 2008 hate attack, and McLeer was the lead detective on the case. McLeer also took Conroy’s written statement, in which Conroy confessed to the stabbing.

As I reported last night, the Friday night deliberation elicited yawns from jurors, the judge, and just about everyone else remaining in the courthouse. At one point, I heard someone in the gallery snoring.

More than a few reporters covering the trial wondered aloud why Doyle would keep jurors so late on a Friday, when it was fairly apparent that they wouldn’t have time to reach a verdict, preoccupied as they were by the read-back of McLeer’s testimony.

A lawyer I spoke with last night said that it’s fairly common practice for judges to test a jury’s endurance during deliberations, if only to work jurors into a state of agitation that might prod them closer to a verdict.

But after only three days of deliberation, that sort of tactic seemed unnecessary, if not somewhat reckless.

The New York Times’ Manny Fernandez describes the scene in today’s paper:

Jurors could be seen yawning and rubbing their eyes and temples, and the family of the victim, Marcelo Lucero, 37, including his mother, Maria Lucero, left the courtroom.

Fernando Mateo, a Lucero family spokesman, said outside the courtroom that Justice Robert W. Doyle’s decision to keep the jury deliberating into the late evening was “inhumane,” adding that most of the jurors “are falling asleep.”

“You’re wearing them down, and you’re forcing them to make a decision,” Mr. Mateo said. “And that’s not the way justice is served.”

Aside from the criticism from the Lucero family, Fernandez also mentions that the extended deliberations will cost Suffolk County taxpayers a few extra dollars in overtime for court personnel:

At one point, the court officer standing next to the court reporter poured her a cup of water. Reporters munched on pizza near the vending machines; jurors had dinner brought in to them from an Italian restaurant. Roughly 20 court officers were working overtime securing the third-floor courtroom and areas outside it.

Minutes after the jury was dismissed, a court officer said Justice Doyle was unavailable for comment. He had gone home.

Tags : hate crimes, jeffrey conroy, manny fernandez, marcelo lucero, new york times

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