Inside a dysfunctional Contra Costa jury

Andrea Roth quoted in Contra Costa Times, September 28, 2013

Andrea Roth, a UC Berkeley law school professor specializing in criminal law and procedure, said a disgruntled, contentious jury is not necessarily bad. “We’re a pluralist society and disagree on all sorts of things, and that’s part of the beauty of it,” she said. “Deliberations are supposed to be heated and passionate; that’s why (judges) don’t venture too much into the box. … Jurors are not supposed to check their common sense at the door; they are supposed to bring their life experiences to the deliberations.”