Judge Nap on Slager Mistrial: The Judge May Not Have Done His Job as Good as He Should Have

NAPOLITANO: "It tells us that the judge might not have done his job as good as he should. I have been critical of the judge. You don’t accept a note or a verbal statement from the foreperson. You interrogate each juror to find out what the confusion is. How could jurors reject the obvious. Is there a defect in thinking, is this an ulterior motive, prejudice, favor, is there something going on with one juror which would indicate, if so, that that juror should be replaced and the 11 that remain and the new juror taking the place of the one whose thinking is defective could deliberate in a new. Especially in a case very high profile, the government’s use of force is obvious, the evidence of guilt is truly overwhelming. We’ve interviewed police defenders who say we can’t defend this one."