The jury - or, more precisely, one holdout juror - sided with mercy and in doing so joined a national trend.

The theory is that many verdicts are reached at the end of the day because a holdout juror or two caves in.

Later, though, he made a comment that some in the courtroom suspected was aimed at the holdout juror.

The jury's statement today made no mention of how the stalemate was broken or who the holdout juror had been.

He wrote the holdout juror praising her "courage in refusing to convict because you had a reasonable doubt."

The testimony apparently did not sway the holdout jurors because the next note to the judge was the one that said they were in disagreement.

From the bench, she said deliberations might have continued without the holdout juror, but for a decision earlier in the week.

He said he could not find the holdout juror to pay him.

"We were trying to talk to him," he said, referring to the holdout juror.

That was used by almost everybody," the holdout juror said.