VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — The jury deciding former NFL star Kellen Winslow Jr.'s fate in a rape trial, sent a note to the judge asking two questions.
The questions lending a window into what's happening as the jury continues deliberating.
10News spoke with Defense Attorney Gretchen Von Helms, to gain insight.
On the surface, the questions seem obvious: "The jurors could benefit from an explanation as to what being under oath means. Additionally, how we should follow the law and not what we think the law should mean."
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"Every fourth-grader knows what under oath is and so also, should we follow the rules? Yes, you're supposed to follow the law," Von Helms said.
She said the note made her think the jury was not agreeing, "the jury's trying to be nice here and say there's one person who just doesn't want to follow the rules, that's what it sounds like."
The first question, she said, could indicate questions the jurors have, "sometimes police officers have to take an oath to be a police officer and maybe they feel that the police officer didn't do their job and follow up correctly or maybe they feel that their definition of that oath is different from the jurors oath."
In regards to the second question, she said "the gut versus law issue, they must follow the law, even if they don't like the defendant, even though some people may not want to convict him because he's a football legacy, you can't do that. You have to look at the evidence and make a determination, is there enough?"
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Von Helms said the most important take-away from the note and the time spent during deliberations is that it appears the jury is taking the case very seriously.
She said the prosecution's job is to lay out the evidence so clearly that the jurors have no doubt on the verdict.
She added, the more time they take to come to a decision, the more reasonable doubt there may be.
Winslow faces three counts of felony rape, misdemeanors of sexual misconduct among other charges.
