Inherit The Windbag: The Hold Out Juror Speaks

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 27, 2010 2:00PM

Congrats to the Tribune for landing what has been the most sought after interview this summer in Chicagoland: JoAnn Chiakulas, the juror who held out on several of the charges against former governor Rod Blagojevich, forcing an 11-1 hung jury on several counts. Of course, it's worth nothing that many other of the 23 charges on which the jury could not agree were not as close. But Chiakulas was the hold out on the marquee charge: the accusation of Blago's attempt to sell the senate seat of Barack Obama. Chiakulas insists that she didn't keep track of Blago's exploits following his arrest and said of his media blitz and television appearances, "I wasn't impressed with his shenanigans." Chiakulas' reasoning for her vote of not guilty - "Some people in (the jury room) only saw black and white. I think I saw, in the transcripts and in the testimony, shades of gray. To me, that means reasonable doubt." - is intriguing because we wonder, what, exactly, was the gray area of, "I've got this thing and it's fucking ... golden. ... I'm just not giving it up for fucking nothing"?

Also intriguing is the clearer picture of what went on behind the closed doors of the jury room.

But standing her ground in the jury room was not easy. Other jurors have acknowledged pressuring Chiakulas to change her vote on the Senate seat, with one man going so far as to switch chairs so he could "look her in the eyes" during deliberations. She was yelled at and told she wasn't being logical, jurors said.

One person asked the judge for a copy of the juror's oath, implying that Chiakulas wasn't fulfilling her obligation. Chiakulas and at least two other female jurors said they felt belittled and questioned whether their gender had something to do with their treatment.

"Our voices really weren't heard," Chiakulas said. "And people did get very upset because they felt like they were being ignored or disrespected."

The entire story is worth a read, of course, if for nothing else then for finally getting the full spectrum of opinion and approach from the jury as they approached the case and as we prepare for next year's retrial.