The costs of the death penalty are more than financial, they are emotional; and these effects are felt not just by the parties to the trial and the families of victims and defendants, but by the jurors as well. A recent report in the Akron Beacon Journal describes the traumatic psychological impact serving in the Summit County, Ohio death penalty trial of Eric Hendon had on the jurors in that case. After a three-month trial and capital-sentencing hearing, the jury found Hendon guilty of a 2013 triple murder and sentenced him to life without parole. Before the trial even began, one juror wrote about her concerns about the death penalty, saying, “It is very difficult for me to fathom crime against people, especially violent crime. It is equally difficult for me to fathom how capital punishment can be good. I understand it is our law. If necessary, I will do my duty. I must admit, though, my hope coming in was that I would serve on a trial that would not tear my soul apart.” In the aftermath of the trial, several jurors said the experience had adversely affected them. One juror reported trouble sleeping for weeks after the trial ended. Another said he was haunted by images of the crime. A white juror reported becoming paranoid after the trial, saying seeing two black men (defendant Eric Hendon is also black) in an older model car near his home “kind of freaked me out.” A number of jurors did not want to talk to the press and, fearing harassment for their jury service, tried to keep their names and addresses from being released to the Beacon Journal. After the trial ended, Judge Amy Corrigan Jones held hearings to decide whether to release the jurors’ information. Six jurors attended the hearings and said they worried for their safety if their information was released. One woman became emotional at the hearing, saying she did not want to relive the experience. “I don’t want to think about this,” she said. “I need to stop messing with my life. I need to move on.”
(S. Warsmith, “Jurors on Summit County’s last death penalty case detail difficult service,” Akron Beacon Journal, February 17, 2017.) See New Voices.
