They knock on
the door. The court attendant opens it. They explain, he gathers in
the lawyers, and they go to the judge's desk. There is a thrill. The
jury have agreed so quickly it must mean a verdict for the plaintiff.
If they had been out longer it would have meant there was a
disagreement or a verdict for the defendant. The longer the jury stays
out the better for the defendant thinks the lawyer. But the actions
of the jury are uncertain and there may be no rule of arriving at
their decision.
There is the story of the judge who, after the jury had been out for a
long time, made a bet with the stenographer as to how the jury were
going to decide. The judge thought himself an expert in determining
the probable verdicts of the jury. After they came in and announced
their decision and were discharged, the judge having lost looked
crestfallen. The stenographer smiled. Then the judge recovered
himself.
"You win," he said, "but the next time you and I bet on a decision it
is going to be one of our cases without a jury."
The attendant asks for the bill and returns to the jury-room. The
court falls into a lethargy of waiting. The jury, having their
information, go on with the discussion, probably on the following
lines.
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