A Civil Action

The next morning, Skinner sends the jurors to their deliberations. Schlichtmann stays right outside of their chambers every day for a week, going home only to sleep. During the second week, his mother and then Teresa occasionally come to sit with him. Schlichtmann barely seems aware of the company. Later, juror Jean Coulsey will say that she found Schlichtmann’s vigil outside their chambers a pathetic spectacle.

The list of questions for the jury confuses William Vogel, the jury chairman; no one can make sense of the jargon. Vogel calls for a test vote simply to see how the others stand. They are almost evenly divided on the question of Grace’s and Beatrice’s liability. By the next day, tension has arisen between Coulsey and a juror named Robert Fox, who is increasingly sure that Beatrice should not be held liable. Fox took pages of notes during the trial, and Coulsey did not. She is frustrated by her inability to articulate issues the way the notetakers can.

After several weeks, the jury is deadlocked. Skinner cannot release the jurors and will not declare a mistrial. Vogel will soon undergo heart surgery, and a woman named Dina Gilbern becomes the alternate chair.