Jurors Nearly Came to Blows Over Race, According to Hearing Testimony
Two white jurors questioned in a special hearing about whether race infected jury deliberations in a Cape Cod, Mass., murder case said two jurors nearly got into a physical confrontation over the issue.
The white jurors were among seven people questioned in the first day of an unusual hearing into allegations of racism during deliberations more than a year ago in the murder trial of fashion writer Christa Worthington. Her garbage truck driver, Christopher McCowen, who is black, was convicted in November 2006. He contended he had consensual sex with Worthington and he did not kill her.
The two jurors told the judge that during deliberations, Marlo George came close to a physical confrontation with Roshena Bohanna after Bohanna accused her of making a racist comment, the New York Times reports. George is accused of saying photos showing bruises on Worthington’s body looked as “if a big black man hit her.”
But George and another juror accused of making racist remarks denied doing so.
