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The Jessica Lunsford tragedy

Jurors say physical evidence left them with no doubt of guilt

By JOHN FRANK
Published March 16, 2007

MIAMI - As jurors huddled last week deliberating John Couey's innocence or guilt, they read through the legal instructions and talked about the evidence connecting him to Jessica Lunsford's death.

Then they took a vote.

One vote was enough. It was unanimous. Guilty on all four charges: burglary, kidnapping, rape and murder.

With Wednesday's recommendation for a death sentence punctuating the trial's conclusion, new details about the jury's deliberation and two-week sequestration are coming to light.

Interviews with some of the Miami-Dade County jurors revealed that the physical evidence against Couey was the main deciding factor.

"There was a lot of evidence," said juror Thais Prado, 20. "Prints, the DNA, most of the scientific facts that you just cannot say no to."

"The evidence was there," added alternate juror Osvaldo Pradere, a 47-year-old mortgage consultant.

Defense attorneys' strongest argument came in the sentencing phase as they explained that Couey is mentally retarded. Jurors considered it at length.

But it was the testimony of jail guards about how Couey read the newspaper, and the defendant's own coherent statements to investigators, that negated the mitigating factor, they said.

"It impacted each of us differently," said juror Marvin Gunn, 38. He decided Couey wasn't retarded after watching the videotaped statement Couey gave to Savannah police officers a couple of days before his arrest.

Some gaps in the story of how the crime was committed also tripped up jurors. Prosecutors had to step lightly at certain points to avoid details included in Couey's confession, which was ruled inadmissible by the judge.

When reporters informed jurors about the confession after the verdict, the panel members looked shocked. They didn't know how to respond. Many of them knew something about the case going into the trial, but none remembered hearing about the confession.

The news comes as a relief to prosecutors because it could have led to a mistrial.

Another question on attorneys' minds was how Couey's habit of coloring and doodling would affect the trial.

Jurors said his behavior didn't go unnoticed. And it might have even backfired.

Prado often looked over at the diminutive defendant hunched over the table in his oversized suit. "I would listen to what they were saying on the stand and I would look at him and think, 'It's this man they're talking about?' " she said.

As for the coloring: "It could be normal. It could be a show, we can't know for sure," Prado said.

Gunn said he focused on the testimony coming from the witness chair, not Couey's actions. "We didn't really pay it any mind," he added.

What Gunn wanted from Couey, he never saw. "No sign of remorse," he said. "You wondered."

As for life in sequestration, jurors said they became a family of sorts, spending nearly every waking minute as a group.

They stayed at the Hilton Homewood Suites hotel near the Miami airport under the watchful eye and care of Citrus County court bailiffs. They were isolated and cut off from all media. Food was delivered to their floor. Police cars with sirens blaring and lights escorted them back to the hotel on the last day.

In the evenings, they gathered watch movies. They rented so many that they had their own account at a nearby Blockbuster. One of the first movies they watched was the gory horror film Saw about the "Jigsaw" serial killer.

At the courthouse during breaks, they played the word-guessing game Pictionary in the jury room. A handful of times the judge had to quiet them down when their laughter seeped into the courtroom.

But by the end the jurors said they were ready to go home, some for the first time. They wanted to watch television, get on the Internet and fill in NCAA basketball tournament brackets.

Pradere said he wanted to go home and hug his young kids before anything else. The trial, he said, will change him forever.

Times researchers Caryn Baird and Cathy Wos contributed to this report. John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 352 860-7312.

[Last modified March 16, 2007, 06:41:30]