WATCH LIVE: Hearing held after juror in Parkland case claims she was threatened by fellow juror
Prosecutors filed a motion Thursday asking the court to authorize law enforcement to interview a juror in the Parkland case who called them to say she was threatened by a fellow juror while in the jury room.
According to the motion, the juror, whose identity was not released, called the Office of the State Attorney around 2:14 p.m. Thursday and requested to speak with Assistant State Attorney Michael Satz, who led the prosecution team in the case.
The juror spoke to support staff and claimed that she “received what she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room,” the motion stated.
During a hearing on the matter Friday, Assistant State Attorney Carolyn McCann said the state was “not trying to set aside the verdict” but said they cannot ignore the issue because it is a safety concern and the juror appeared to be frightened during the phone call.
This speaks to the friction between jurors that some have mentioned, although none thus far had mentioned any threats being made between jurors.
According to the motion, prosecutors did not return the juror’s call, but instead filed a Notice to the Court, requesting that law enforcement interview the juror since “a crime may have been committed.”
The motion Thursday came hours after a handwritten letter from juror number 12 was received by the court. She recounted a conversation she had with juror 8 in the courthouse parking lot.
The letter reads in part, “I would like to notify you that [juror number 8] heard jurors who voted for the death penalty stating that I had already made up my mind on voting for life before the trial started.
“This allegation is untrue and I maintained my oath to the court that I would be fair and unbiased. The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life.”
McCann confirmed in court Friday that the juror who wrote the letter to the judge Thursday was not the same juror who claimed she had been threatened.
Broward County Judge Elizabeth Scherer confirmed that a male juror also wished to speak with her Thursday regarding a complaint he had, and had apparently tried to get her attention during Thursday’s court session.
The judge said she did not personally speak with any jurors after the verdicts were read Thursday as that would have been inappropriate.
Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference in Cape Coral Friday morning and said he supports an investigation into possible juror misconduct.
“There’s still a lot of disappointment from yesterday’s verdict in the Parkland school shooting case to deny the imposition of the death penalty for somebody that massacred so many people in cold blood, and cut short so many young and vibrant and lives full of potential,” he said. “It stings. And it stings a lot of people. Not only in that community down in Parkland, in Broward County, but really throughout the state and I think even throughout our country.”
Some jurors spoke to Local 10 News Thursday after they returned a life in prison verdict for the Parkland school shooter.
The jury foreman told Local 10 there were three people who wanted life in prison for the gunman, however another juror said there was one or perhaps two holdouts.
Foreman Benjamin Thomas, a gun owner who works in IT, said he voted for the death penalty.
“I didn’t vote that way, so I’m not happy with how it worked out, but everybody has the right to decide for themselves,” he said. “We waited overnight for people to sleep on it, but if a juror had a hard feeling that they were only going to vote one way, there’s nothing else you can do.”
The full motion can be read below:
