On Wednesday morning, jurors in a Henry County murder trial learned their first two days of deliberations would have to be repeated because the judge removed a juror who had engaged in a brief conversation with an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter.
There would be more bad news for the jurors impaneled in the trial of foster parents Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum. After nearly eight hours of deliberations, they learned from Superior Court Judge Brian Amero that they will not be going home until a verdict is reached.
Facing sequestration, the jurors decided they might as well keep going. They called it a day a little before 8 p.m., still absent a verdict.
The decision to sequester — issued out of “an abundance of caution,” said Amero — was another consequence of Tuesday’s lunchtime chat between a juror and AJC reporter Alexis Stevens.
The juror reported the interaction to court officials, prompting the defense to move for a mistrial. It was denied. Two additional motions to dismiss followed but were also denied.
Defense attorney Corinne Mull argued that the conversation between the reporter and a juror could taint the jury. Media coverage of the case had been slanted against her client, Mull said. She cited an apology letter, emailed Tuesday night from Stevens to prosecutors, which she said revealed a pro-state bias.
The AJC has assigned a different reporter to cover the remaining court proceedings.
“It’s not just one thing,” Mull told Amero. “It’s a buildup.”
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Prosecutor Eddie Chase accused the defense of “grasping for straws,” arguing there is no evidence jurors have been swayed by media coverage or influenced by outside forces.
And while the juror and Stevens had different interpretations of their exchange, they agreed nothing substantive was discussed, Chase said.
Jurors, meanwhile, continue to sort through a mountain of evidence and 49 counts faced by the couple, who are free on bond.
The Rosenbaums are charged in the 2015 death of their foster child, 2-year-old Laila Daniel. The toddler died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen, which split her pancreas in two and lacerated her liver, an autopsy found.
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On Nov. 17, 2015, Jennifer Rosenbaum called 911 to report that the toddler was choking on a chicken nugget, according to investigators.
But authorities discovered that Laila had extensive bruising, and that her injuries were inconsistent with choking.
The Rosenbaums had taken in Laila and her 4-year-old sister, Millie, four months earlier.
The parents have said Laila’s death was an accident and the result of CPR and the Heimlich maneuver being performed incorrectly.
Jennifer Rosenbaum, a former law student and candidate for Henry County commissioner, faces charges of malice and felony murder, child cruelty, aggravated assault and aggravated battery.
Joseph Rosenbaum had previously worked for the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office. He is charged with second-degree murder, accused of leaving Laila in his wife’s care when he allegedly knew she was abusing the child.
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