Criminal Attorney Lauren Johnson-Norris speaks to KNX news 97.1 about Judge Ferguson case

[Speaker 3]

Now, Irvine-based criminal defense attorney Lauren Johnson Norris says retrying the case would actually make sense for prosecutors, especially since it was 11 to 1 in favor of conviction.

[Speaker 1]

If Judge Ferguson goes forward with the same lawyer, that lawyer is going to have to decide how they're going to approach the case moving forward. Will it be the same? Will it be similar?

Will it be different? And then the prosecutor is going to want to understand what went wrong with that one juror if they can. They may not be able to find out if that juror doesn't want to talk to them.

I expect that they'll go forward with the trial in the same way, because those are the facts that they have. Usually with a verdict like this, you can predict that there will be a conviction the second time around.

[Speaker 3]

Now, Johnson Norris says if there is a retrial, it might be a while before it actually starts.

[Speaker 2]

Irvine-based criminal defense attorney Lauren Johnson Norris says if prosecutors retry the case, it'll likely end up in a conviction, especially since it was 11 to 1 in favor of a guilty verdict.

[Speaker 1]

So while we don't know what the holdout was about, we know that 11 people heard this evidence and thought that they could convict him. And if that holdout had a unique or illogical theory of the case or didn't believe what was in front of their eyes that the other 11 did, it may just be an issue with that one person.

[Speaker 2]

Johnson Norris says despite things being 11 against 1 in a jury room, sometimes that lone holdout will dig their heels in even more and refuse to budge on their stance. She says while a retrial in this situation favors prosecutors, it does give Ferguson's defense team time to make adjustments since it'll be a while before a new trial begins.