NOTE, 3:15 p.m.: The headline has been changed from "Is Acting Stupid" to "Was Acting Stupid," as we can't really tell how stupid they're being at the moment.
For the latest (hint: a juror said he was innocent), check out our latest post.
Original post, 12:06 p.m.:
If Wellington rich guy and convicted murderer John Goodman didn't have reasonable grounds for appeal before, he sure does now.
Goodman, who was convicted last month in the 2010 drowning death of 23-year-old Scott Wilson, was supposed to receive up to 30 years in prison today, but the proceedings have been delayed by accusations of rampant silliness among members of the jury.
Currently the most pressing issue: Judge Jeffrey Colbath is scheduled to interview jurors this afternoon about whether discussions of Goodman's wealth played a factor in jury deliberations.
Goodman's legal team has also said jurors tried to contact Colbath after the verdict and announced plans to appeal when Colbath refused Friday to recuse himself from the case because of the matter, according to the Palm Beach Post.
There's also the matter of a book that juror Dennis DeMartin allegedly started writing about the case during the trial, the two letters jurors sent to the judge, and the letter a third woman sent after overhearing a juror talking to a friend at Rocco's Tacos.
The woman said she heard the juror complaining about another juror bullying the others, according to the Palm Beach Post. Bullying? Really? It's not like the jury was deliberating for three weeks and some guy got grumpy and called somebody fat -- the jury convicted Goodman on all counts after five hours. You're debating whether to lock a guy up for 30 years. You couldn't stand up for yourself for one afternoon?
We'll know (a little bit) more after Colbath interviews the jurors, but the questions are reportedly limited to the jury's discussion of Goodman's wealth, and the appeals process could be strung out for years -- and an appellate court could, in theory, still boot Colbath off the case. WPTV is streaming the proceedings starting at 1:30.
(For more about the case, check out our John Goodman primer.)
