Cancel the first half of today's post, about the judge who wouldn't grant a mistrial after defendant Richard Glawson punched a juror. After Glawson's lawyer Joseph Griffin filed an emergency petition with the state's high court yesterday, Judge Patrick F. Brady reconsidered, and granted the mistrial after all. (Yet another update: "reconsidered" is the wrong word. The court ordered Judge Brady to interview the jurors, as the court's web site now reflects.)
Judge Brady interviewed the jurors today, "and several said they could not remain [im]partial," reports the Boston Herald, who I'm sure will correct that typo soon. It's not surprising that they were feeling some bias toward Glawson, after they "tried to run or were trapped trembling and weeping" during the incident.
Glawson told the judge he heard voices commanding him to hit the juror. As a jury event, it looks like it's over; as a story of how mental health issues challenge the law and the courts, it may continue.
