Post by CCADP on Aug 23, 2005 6:59:57 GMT -5
Sentencing exhausts jurors
By THOMASI MCDONALD AND JENNIFER BREVORKA, Staff Writers
When the doors shut Monday, 12 jurors sat down together for the last time to decide what to do with Timothy Wayne Johnson.
It was just after 12:35 p.m. They had to decide whether to sentence Johnson to death or to life in prison for killing Kevin McCann.
The first try was on the death penalty. Only four of the jurors would support it, one juror, Rebecca Carver of Raleigh, said later.
So after a lunch break, a debate and some tears, the 12 jurors unanimously voted for life. They had deliberated just two hours.
"We had a hard job. We did the best we could with the information we had and the decision we made," said another juror, Rebekah White of Raleigh.
White, 45, a mother of four sons, was emotionally and physically worn out late Monday afternoon as she stood in front of her parents' North Raleigh home.
"You saw people coming out of the jury room crying -- even men," White said.
White, Carver, and a third juror said three weeks of testimony and deliberations will affect them for the rest of their lives.
"It was very, very stressful," said Carver, 60, a legal secretary for a downtown law firm. "Some of the jurors did not sleep well, and if they did they had nightmares. I don't think we will ever put it totally behind us. But you know time is a river. We have our lives."
Carver said no single piece of evidence swayed the jury.
The third juror, Jerry Smith of Willow Spring, said the statements from victims and the Johnson family during the sentencing hearing Friday were "gut wrenching" but had minimal impact on the life or death decision.
"There was not a lot of discussion," Smith said. "[The law] was cut and dry."
Smith said Johnson came off as cold and callous to jurors who listened again to Johnson's jailhouse calls shortly after his arrest.
Carver said despite the fact that he killed two men, Johnson did not come off as the worst of the worst.
"I think there was enough reasonable doubt as to whether he deserved to die," Carver said. "He wasn't an Eric Rudolph. He didn't torture people. He wasn't a BTK killer. I'm not against the death penalty, but it has to be pretty severe. 'Course, killing two people is pretty severe."
The jurors said the defense's arguments about Johnson's chaotic childhood or that he has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also had little impact.
"My son has ADHD," Carver said. "He suffered brain damage at birth. He has more problems in that regard than Timothy. So his ADHD did not cut any ice with me. He got help. He got medications and he sold his medicine to kids at school. [Prosecutor] Susan Spurlin kept talking about the choices we make. Timothy made a lot of bad choices."
Carver said the jury's decision represented one more opportunity in Johnson's life.
"Timothy has had a lot of advantages that a lot of people don't have, and he's blown every one of them," she said. "So he's got one more. Let's see what he does with it."
Staff writer Thomasi McDonald can be reached at 829-4533 or tmcdonal@newsobserver.com.
By THOMASI MCDONALD AND JENNIFER BREVORKA, Staff Writers
When the doors shut Monday, 12 jurors sat down together for the last time to decide what to do with Timothy Wayne Johnson.
It was just after 12:35 p.m. They had to decide whether to sentence Johnson to death or to life in prison for killing Kevin McCann.
The first try was on the death penalty. Only four of the jurors would support it, one juror, Rebecca Carver of Raleigh, said later.
So after a lunch break, a debate and some tears, the 12 jurors unanimously voted for life. They had deliberated just two hours.
"We had a hard job. We did the best we could with the information we had and the decision we made," said another juror, Rebekah White of Raleigh.
White, 45, a mother of four sons, was emotionally and physically worn out late Monday afternoon as she stood in front of her parents' North Raleigh home.
"You saw people coming out of the jury room crying -- even men," White said.
White, Carver, and a third juror said three weeks of testimony and deliberations will affect them for the rest of their lives.
"It was very, very stressful," said Carver, 60, a legal secretary for a downtown law firm. "Some of the jurors did not sleep well, and if they did they had nightmares. I don't think we will ever put it totally behind us. But you know time is a river. We have our lives."
Carver said no single piece of evidence swayed the jury.
The third juror, Jerry Smith of Willow Spring, said the statements from victims and the Johnson family during the sentencing hearing Friday were "gut wrenching" but had minimal impact on the life or death decision.
"There was not a lot of discussion," Smith said. "[The law] was cut and dry."
Smith said Johnson came off as cold and callous to jurors who listened again to Johnson's jailhouse calls shortly after his arrest.
Carver said despite the fact that he killed two men, Johnson did not come off as the worst of the worst.
"I think there was enough reasonable doubt as to whether he deserved to die," Carver said. "He wasn't an Eric Rudolph. He didn't torture people. He wasn't a BTK killer. I'm not against the death penalty, but it has to be pretty severe. 'Course, killing two people is pretty severe."
The jurors said the defense's arguments about Johnson's chaotic childhood or that he has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also had little impact.
"My son has ADHD," Carver said. "He suffered brain damage at birth. He has more problems in that regard than Timothy. So his ADHD did not cut any ice with me. He got help. He got medications and he sold his medicine to kids at school. [Prosecutor] Susan Spurlin kept talking about the choices we make. Timothy made a lot of bad choices."
Carver said the jury's decision represented one more opportunity in Johnson's life.
"Timothy has had a lot of advantages that a lot of people don't have, and he's blown every one of them," she said. "So he's got one more. Let's see what he does with it."
Staff writer Thomasi McDonald can be reached at 829-4533 or tmcdonal@newsobserver.com.