Articles Tagged with Boston

The nineteenth-century French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville famously described the jury in the United States as “a free school which is always open and in which each juror learns his rights,” making it not only “the most energetic means of making the people rule,” but also “the most efficacious means of teaching it to rule well.” Unfortunately, the reality of juries is often somewhat more complicated. In particular, the risk of racial bias in jury deliberations has long been recognized, but efforts to combat it have run up against one of the most important features of jury deliberations: their secrecy.  

Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court tackled this thorny issue in its decision in Commonwealth v. Vasquez. The defendant in the case, Pedro Vasquez, was charged with murder in connection with a shooting in Springfield. After the first day of jury deliberations, two jurors were observed having a heated argument. The next day one of the two jurors sent the judge a note, saying that other juror had called him “racist” and initiated an argument. The jury foreperson (not one of the jurors observed arguing) independently also wrote a note to the judge stating that interactions with one member of the jury had “become personal,” and that the juror in question had voiced “preconceived biases” to the group.  

The judge proceeded to question the two jurors involved in the argument. The first juror confirmed that he had called the second racist based on multiple statements in deliberations, and that he had invited him to “fight it out” after the second juror had called him a “piece of shit.” The second juror confirmed that there had been an argument based on their deliberations and that the first juror wanted to fight. The foreperson, who was also questioned, mentioned uncomfortable tensions in the room; the judge did not ask her about the “preconceived biases” she had referred to. All three jurors questioned stated that they could remain impartial. The prosecutor asked for the two jurors in conflict to be dismissed from the case, while the defense lawyer suggested that this would be “extremely premature.” The judge kept both jurors and reinstructed the whole jury about deliberations and the importance of impartiality. Later that day the jury convicted Vasquez of second-degree murder.