Judge Alex Ferrer: "The jurors in this case were my heroes" | Forensic Files

it was the most complex criminal prosecution I've ever handled on top of which it had two juries it was a death
penalty case which is complicated in and of itself uh one of the defendants had confessed and implicated the other
defendant and so you had the problem that he could not be forced to testify so the other defendant could not
cross-examine him on that so you had to pick two juries one who would hear the confession and one who wouldn't there
were just a lot of legal issues you had to worry about on a case like this not to mention that just the length of it 4
and a half months mon you're bound to lose some jurors along the way every day there were issues that would come up you
know jurors had employers who were upset that they weren't showing up at work and
were threatening to fire them and I had to deal with those issues so that you wouldn't lose a juror and then when you
get to the end of the case and you've got two juries you've got two juries who have a right to look at the evidence and
so where does the evidence go you had to come up with a system for jurors to look
at all of the evidence and the other jury be able to see it as well when they weren't looking at it um keep the jurors
separate because they couldn't communicate with each other that could result in a mistrial I think the
greatest challenge was the jurors as a former cop as a a judge I've seen really difficult gruesome cases but we're
asking 35 people who are moms and teachers and just individuals who don't normally get exposed to that kind of
viciousness to come in here not only listen to it but look at some of the most graphic disturbing pictures that I
can can say I've ever seen as a judge um so I think the biggest challenge was theirs and uh they did an amazing job
the jurors in this trial were my heroes

Judge Ferrer explains how and why this case was so complicated and shares with "48 Hours" correspondent Troy Roberts how difficult it was to prosecute.

Brief Summary

A lawyer discusses the challenges of managing a complex death penalty case with two juries and graphic evidence.

Key points

Complex Criminal Prosecution. A death penalty case with two juries and numerous legal challenges.

Episode quotes

The jurors in this trial were my heroes.

Reflecting on the jurors' resilience in a challenging case.

1:36WatchFeb 23, 2014

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