Report suggests mixing city and county jurors

A study that found major differences in the verdicts of juries in Baltimore and those in Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Howard counties has officially been released. Officials in the city didn’t like the draft they saw last spring, but the draft and report were similar in conclusions and recommendations.   

The Abell Foundation report by Shawn M. Flower of Choice Research Associates said county juries were 30 times more likely than city juries to convict defendants on their most serious charge.  

Baltimore State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, Administrative Judge Marcella A. Holland and other officials who’d read a draft of the report last spring objected in particular to its recommendation that jurors be chosen from throughout the area to stop the difference in verdicts. 

— The Baltimore Sun