Three-day break a wild card factor for Huguely jury

Jurors in the George Huguely murder trial have a three-day break from the courthouse between hearing closing arguments Saturday and beginning deliberations Wednesday. Though legal experts assume jurors are mulling over the evidence in their time off, no one can know for sure how the break will affect the outcome of the trial.

 “It might not have any effect [on the verdict],” Darryl Brown, a University of Virginia law professor, said.

“Whatever impression they took away 7 o’clock Saturday evening they’ve been mulling over ever since,” said J. Lloyd Snook, president-elect of the Charlottesville Albemarle Bar Association, though he added that he has “no idea what that impression was.”

Snook said that multi-week trials are “unusual” in Virginia, but that there have been other instances of three-day breaks in a trial. Often, these breaks involve a holiday weekend, as is the case in Huguely’s trial.

“Three days is unusual,” Brown said. He added that it is common for a trial to recess over a weekend, but that it is more rare for a jury to go for three days without meeting.

“That’s a pretty long break, obviously. It’s just a function of the unfortunate timing,” he said.

Judge Edward Hogshire said he would not hold court on a Sunday or Presidents Day. Today is set aside for Charlottesville Circuit Court’s bi-monthly grand jury hearing.

Huguely is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, robbery, burglary, statutory burglary and grand larceny in connection with the May 3, 2010 death of his ex-girlfriend and fellow UVa lacrosse teammate, Yeardley Love.

Hogshire overruled the defense’s motion to sequester the jury in pretrial motions hearings. Had he granted the motion, all 14 people hearing the case — 12 jurors and two alternates — would have been kept together and away from their normal homes through some or all of the trial. Jurors would be supervised by court officials to ensure they did not have any contact with the news media. As is, jurors are under oath not to read, watch or discuss anything related to the trial until its end.

Hogshire advised jurors on their deliberation instructions and the legal definitions of each of Huguely’s charges prior to the start of closing arguments.

Because those arguments did not wrap up until close to 7 p.m. Saturday night, Hogshire allowed jurors to choose whether they wanted to start deliberation that night, or wait until Wednesday morning. They quickly chose to reconvene at the later date.

Both Snook and Brown said that jurors are likely weighing the evidence individually while they wait for court to resume on Wednesday morning.

“I think it’s inevitable that they’re coming to some personal views about the evidence and the right outcome,” Brown said.

“The jury both has at least some understanding of the law from the jury instructions as well as a knowledge of all the evidence,” he added.

“People always ask me: ‘Does this favor the defense?’ ‘Does this favor the prosecution?’” Snook said. “The answer is ‘not inherently.’”

Brown said he has never encountered any studies about juries who have had a several-day break between closing arguments and deliberation.

“I don’t think even the social scientists who are experts in jury decision making have any sense of what a three-day break could do to affect a jury verdict,” Brown said.

“If they’re careful about their deliberations and they don’t jump to conclusions, it shouldn’t impact their decision too much,” Snook said.

Court will reconvene at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. Though the jury will immediately begin deliberations, there is no way of knowing when a verdict will be reached.