There has been no substantial interview regarding the deliberations that resulted in 12 Not Guilty Verdicts, and One Verdict where the jury could not get consensus. However, we do have a bit of information that is probably the most critical single piece with regard to understanding just what happened that led to those verdicts.
Juror #4, the juror that brought Judge Brown the indication of bias by Juror #11, has stated that the government failed to show that the occupiers had the intention to impede the government employees. That the failure of the employees to report to the Refuge may have been an effect of the occupation. Since the Jury Instructions required the government to prove "intent", the jury had to find them Not Guilty, at least with regard to Counts One and Two. In a written statement, Juror #4 said, "All 12 agreed that impeding existed, even if as an effect of the occupation.'' The difference between "effect" and "intent", then, becomes the foundation for this article.
