The Porco Jury - 100% White, 25% West Point.

According to the information supplied by the Times Union, the Christopher Porco jury is made up of eight females and four males. Eight of the jurors are married, two are single, one is divorced and one is widowed. Ten jurors have children or step-children. One juror has a doctorate degree, three have masters, one has a bachelors, two are high school graduates and the educational background of the other five is unknown.

None of the above seems very significant or even that interesting. What is interesting, but may not necessarily be significant, is that three jurors work at the Military Academy at West Point. What might be significant is that one of them is a Lieutenant Colonel (no it’s not Ollie North). Looking at the profiles of the other jurors, it appears that he has the most “take charge” background of anyone on the jury, and may have a strong influence over the jury, even if not chosen foreman.

One of the other West Point members of the jury is an Environmental Engineering Instructor. He is the juror with the doctorate. The other West Point member works in Human Resources.

The juror most experienced in issuing orders and the juror with the most education are likely to spend some time together, knowing that each works at West Point. The juror who works in Human Resources will most likely spend some time talking to the two other West Pointers as well.

It will be interesting to see if the West Point faction influences the outcome of the trial. If the Lieutenant Colonel is a conservative, then Chris Porco may be in trouble.

The other interesting fact is that the jury is all white. Of course, the defendant is white also, so no one is making a point of that. If I were the defendant, I would make an issue of it. Even though I am white, I would not want to face an all white jury, knowing that Blacks as a rule look at justice differently than Whites do and might be more sympathetic than Whites.

I guess if Christopher Porco loses, Terry Kindlon could make history by being the first lawyer to appeal on the grounds that his white client had an all white jury. With his looks and dress reminiscent of a cross between Clarence Darrow and Atticus Finch, Kindlon looks like a man who wants to make history.