BRIEF: Juror Claims He Was Pressured By Judge And Other Jury Members To Convict

NEW YORK, United States – John White was convicted of second-degree manslaughter on 22 December 2007.  John White, a 54-year-old black man, shot Daniel Cicciaro Jr., a 17-year-old white teenager after Cicciaro and several other white teenagers gathered outside White’s home.  The group said that they wanted to confront White’s son but White claims that he feared a “lynch mob” had come to his home and attack his family. 

A juror who voted to convict White on second-degree manslaughter claims that he felt pressure from other jurors and the judge to change his vote to guilty to end the lengthy jury deliberation.  The jury’s conviction came after a twelve-hour deliberation session on Saturday.  Saturday marked the fourth straight day of deliberation.  The judge had already instructed the jury that their deliberation would continue into Sunday, 23 December 2007.  The juror claims that he weighed the burden on his family and the families of the other jurors and decided that it was not worth it to continue to fight for an acquittal. 

The jury forewoman denies the undue pressure from other jury members or the judge.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Juror: Judge and jury pressured me to convict man – 24 December 2007

Washington Post - Jury Convicts Black Man in Shooting Death of White Teen - 24 December 2007

New York Times - Man Convicted for Shooting Teenager - 23 December 2007