When the jury in the Rae Carruth murder trial began its deliberations on Jan. 16, 2001, noise consumed the room. It was like sitting around the table at Thanksgiving dinner — everyone wanted to talk at once.
Judge Charles Lamm had first instructed the jury to pick a foreman. To courtroom observers, Herb Brown seemed like a shoo-in: He was a lawyer with 37 years of experience.
But Brown wanted no part of the job.
He told the others that if he was the foreman, whatever verdict they reached would be torn to bits, and that outsiders would wonder if the decision had been made by a lawyer and his 11 puppets.