Jurors in slain NYC jogger case wanted more time to deliberate
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This Queens judge apparently likes his jurors — and dry cleaning — to be hung.
Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise, who stunningly declared a jury deadlocked in the Karina Vetrano murder case after just one day of deliberations, took advantage Wednesday of the unexpected time off the quick-draw decision earned him by picking up his laundry.
The errand-run came as one of those jurors revealed to The Post that several members of the panel wanted to keep weighing the charges against Chanel Lewis — who is accused of sexually assaulting and strangling the 30-year-old Vetrano on a jogging path in 2016 — when the forewoman sent a note to Aloise saying they were at an impasse.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We were all not in agreement to end it where it ended,” said the juror, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Some of us wanted to think about it some more. That note was sent and people were not ready to end it there. People felt like there could have been more deliberations.”
Aloise wouldn’t say why he didn’t push the panel of 12 jurors to go back and deliberate further — which legal experts called a routine move.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The errand-run came as one of those jurors revealed to The Post that several members of the panel wanted to keep weighing the charges against Chanel Lewis — who is accused of sexually assaulting and strangling the 30-year-old Vetrano on a jogging path in 2016 — when the forewoman sent a note to Aloise saying they were at an impasse.
“We were all not in agreement to end it where it ended,” said the juror, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Some of us wanted to think about it some more. That note was sent and people were not ready to end it there. People felt like there could have been more deliberations.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Aloise wouldn’t say why he didn’t push the panel of 12 jurors to go back and deliberate further — which legal experts called a routine move.
“A lot of people were upset that the note was sent to the judge at the time. Some of us wanted to think about it some more. That note was sent and people were not ready to end it there. People felt like there could have been more deliberations — the same way that two people changed their mind after seeing the video,” the juror said.
“Some of us were shocked, too, like what the hell just happened? It was upsetting. I’m not going to say I wasted my time, but i just feel like it should have been more time,” the juror said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It was kind of traumatic for me because I feel it was like a tragedy and I really wanted to see justice.”
Veteran lawyers, too, were floored that Aloise, who’s been a judge since 1999, didn’t send them back to deliberate.
“I have never seen [a mistrial] happen without an Allen charge. Never. The Allen charges normally work,” said defense attorney Sally Butler, a prosecutor in Queens for 15 years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Whenever you get that note, that’s the first thing the judge does. There was something definitely up.”
Civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby agreed that the outcome was “unheard of” given the short length of deliberations. “The first deadlock note, in my experience, never hangs the jury unless there is physical violence [among jurors] or other extraneous reasons,” Kuby said.
The panel had deliberated just one hour on Monday and 12 on Tuesday — after hearing a mountain of evidence against Lewis.
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