Missouri Juror Describes Pressure to Vote for Death

UPDATE: Winfield’s execution was stayed on June 12 because of state interference with the clemency process. EARLIER: John Winfield is scheduled to be executed in Missouri on June 18 despite an affidavit submitted by one of the jurors at his trial stating she was pressured to switch her sentencing vote from life in prison to death. Kimberly Turner, who served on Winfield’s jury in 1998, recently described the jury’s initial deliberations: “Another juror and I had voted for life without the possibility of parole. That was my vote. In my heart, that has always been my vote.” In Missouri, a jury recommendation for death must be unanimous; if just one juror votes for a life sentence, the defendant is sentenced to life. When the jury told the court they were unable to reach a unanimous sentencing verdict, they were told to continue deliberating. “Even though I had voted for life without parole,” Turner said, “when an officer of the Court told me to keep deliberating, I thought that I had to. It was Friday afternoon and the other jurors were tired of being sequestered and wanted to go home. They were pressuring me and the other life vote to change our votes to death…As the afternoon went on, the other jurors wore me down. I had not wanted to keep deliberating, but after the order to continue, I did not know how long I was supposed to keep defending my vote for life…So I changed my vote to death. It is a decision that has haunted me.”

Turner said she hoped her experience might help Winfield’s case for clemency. Her affidavit concluded by stating, “When I discovered that Mr. Winfield had been given an execution date, I was sick to my stomach…It was hard on me to be a juror as a single mom, but I did my civic duty. I was called to fulfill this duty. I did not ask to be a part of deciding whether a man should live or die…I feel responsible for Mr. Winfield’s fate. I struggle with that. If Mr. Winfield is executed, I will have to deal with that forever. I ask that Mr. Winfield’s sentence be commuted to life without the possibility of parole.”

(S. Mencimer, “A Missouri Juror Tries To Save Man She Helped Send to Death Row,” Mother Jones, June 10, 2014). See Clemency and Arbitrariness. See also DPIC’s report, Blind Justice.