Gulfstream: 6 July 2003

Jurors are increasingly deciding to not execute those convicted of a capital offence, in part because defence lawyers “have become more skilled and resourceful in persuading jurors that the lives of their clients are worth saving.” A jury convicted Jeremy Gross of a particularly brutal murder of a convenience store clerk; but when the defence laid out the circumstances of his life before them, the twelve jurors (who had indicated that they supported the death penalty) sentenced him to life without parole.