well Toby have you ever served on a jury in a criminal trial
 	
 	
 		
 
 		no i've always wanted to and uh but they never uh my name never seems to come up
 	
 	
 		well i'm not sure whether you're the lucky one or i am  because i have done it and uh
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		uh
 	
 	
 		what did you think of the process
 	
 	
 		well we had a hung jury so i i came away really disappointed in the process or the least the people involved i was very frustrated about that
 	
 	
 		how hung was it i mean what was the vote
 	
 	
 		i i think it was something like oh ten to three ten to two or nine to three or something like that
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		which really means that if if we hadn't of had to have unanimous decision
 		we would uh
 		would have completed our mission  if you will
 	
 	
 		yeah yeah but it's
 		i don't know i i've always thought that the fact the the fact that it has to be unanimous means that there wasn't any doubt in people's minds
 		and if it uh if in like in your case if there's two people who who weren't convinced that the fellow was guilty
 		then or innocent i you didn't say which way it went
 	
 	
 		i think it was ten people
 		
 
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		no it's the funny
 	
 	
 		it can go either way if there's two people that aren't convinced one way or the other then that's
 		um you know i don't i think one one change that might be worthwhile would be to say that you need unanimous verdict to find somebody guilty
 		but but if you don't get a unanimous guilty verdict then they're innocent
 		because the prosecution didn't prove their case to all twelve people
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		um
 	
 	
 		well the the crazy thing about this trial was that the guy said yes i did this i did this armed robbery but he wanted a jury to decide his sentence
 		and we couldn't even agree on a sentence
 	
 	
 		huh
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		huh
 	
 	
 		i i mean i was ready to put the guy guy away forever but i was dealing with people who said well if it were my son i'd want him to have another chance
 		i know
 	
 	
 		that's ridiculous
 		um here in Georgia the only time that the jury gets involved in sentencing at all is in capital punishment cases
 	
 	
 		oh is that right otherwise the judge does it
 	
 	
 		the judge does all sentencing for everything except capital cases here
 	
 	
 		do you think that's appropriate or should it be changed
 	
 	
 		i think it is appropriate i think that the judge
 		probably has a much better uh feel for uh what sentences other people who have committed comparable punishment crimes have received and what the guidelines are and uh
 		i i think that by the time you get to that point all the facts have been settled the person's been convicted and the punishment should be
 		well a fairly objective uh thing uh i don't know if there really needs to be all that much discretion in sentencing once you've determined what crime the person is guilty of
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		well and i do not know if it is this way it all states or not but in Texas there are severe limitations on what the jury can know know about the the prior history of the alleged criminal
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		and also what they can be told about the effects of sentencing Like if you give somebody fifteen years they'll be out in three weeks or something like that
 		i maybe it's not quite that radical but but those things are not those are things are kept from the jury
 	
 	
 		yeah here in Georgia when they have the jury involved in sentencing like in a capital case the prosecution is not allowed to say that if you if you give them life he'll be out in seven years that's against the rules
 	
 	
 		yeah why
 	
 	
 		uh but in with the judge making all the other sentences
 		uh course the judge has open to him all of the previous criminal history uh
 		uh and uh obviously the judge knows what all the guidelines uh or what all the effects can be of parole and things like that
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		um well i think the
 		the the reform of the jury process that i would like most to see
 		is for juries to be required to be informed of their right to judge not only the facts of the case but also the law itself
 		uh juries and lot of people are not aware of this but it is
 		it's part of the common law and it they really is in Georgia it is part of the state Constitution and it is in the Constitution of a lot of states that if the jury
 		uh believes that the law that someone is being tried on is unjust the law itself is unjust the jury can refuse to convict the person
 		uh and this is sort of the people's uh last line of defense against governments
 	
 	
 		huh