DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A judge in a Douglas County Sweet 16 murder case says a note he got seems to indicate the jury is having a tough time reaching a verdict.
“I can say I’ve never gotten a note like this before,” Chief Superior Court Judge William Beau McClain said in court.
The judge seemed taken aback by the note. He read the note in court:
“It says is it possible to go over our duties and responsibilities again,” the judge read.
Judge McClain thought the note indicated the jurors were having a difficult time reaching a verdict.
“I’m going to make an educated guess that there’s trouble involving one or more jurors,” he said.
The jury is deciding whether or not to convict Timothy Coleman Jr, Kingston Cottman and Tahkel Beverly Smart for the murders of 15-year-old Samuel Moon and 14-year-old Aj’anaye Hill last year.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones attended the trial on Tuesday.
They all were at a Sweet 16 party on Talkeetna Drive when gunfire broke out. Several teens were wounded in the shooting.
All three defendants face life without parole.
“Your verdict needs to speak the truth,” the judge told the jury once he brought them back into court.
He read them the oath they took and told them they must deliberate.
“And a true verdict was given according to the evidence,” he said, stressing the word “evidence.”
The jury went back to deliberate, but then came out with another question, a juror said they had an emergency and needed to make a phone call.
The jury finally ended deliberations for the day, and will return Wednesday.