I was in such a hurry on Saturday, I didn’t get a chance to blog about the response from the families.  They were all disappointed, but not one of them said they regret having this trial, even with the expense.  They believe it was the right thing to do.  They praised the prosecutors and praised the judge for getting it done.  Christina Greenway, daughter of Julie Brandau, said Brian Nichols didn’t win.  Afterall, in his own words, she said,  it’s not in his DNA to spend the rest of his life behind bars.  Now that’s exactly what he’s getting.

Before the sentencing got underway, Nichols addressed the judge.  He said he is sorry for what he did, and that he will not bring dishonor to the jurors’ decision to spare his life.

The judge just sentenced Brian Nichols to 11 life terms (4 of them without parole) plus 485 years.  Some of the victims’ family members (Candee Wilhelm especially) look disappointed.  She nodded, though, when the judge said, “If only Agent Wilhelm had gotten the draw on Mr. Nichols.  That would have ended this whole thing.”

It’s official.  Brian Nichols will not die for the March 11, 2005 murders.  The judge just told the deadlocked jury he will sentence Nichols tomorrow morning to either life in prison with the possibility of parole or life in prison without the possibility of parole.  The jury confirmed the split was 9 for death, 3 for life.

The jury foreman just told the judge they are still deadlocked, and that they do not believe further deliberations will help.  So the judge just told them to go back and continue deliberating for two more hours.   If they still come back hung at 8pm, the judge will officially sentence Nichols to life in prison tomorrow morning.

Still nothing.

Still not a peep from the jury today, not even after the judge sent them that note.

Here’s what just happened.  The judge sent a memo to the jury (I have a copy of it.)  It basically tries to clear up any confusion from his instructions yesterday.  The memo instructs them that if they want to listen to any phone calls again, they can only hear the portion of the call that was played in court.  They cannot listen to any portions they haven’t heard before.  It sounds like they wanted to hear other calls so they can have some context.  Are they looking for any signs of remorse?  Who knows?

No movement yet from the jury this morning.  I just talked to a court insider who said there IS one scenario in which there would be a mistrial in the sentencing phase.  If the jury comes back deadlocked with an even 6/6 split, the judge would have no authority to impose a sentence.  If there are at least 7 votes for the death penalty, the judge can impose life without prison.  If there are 5 or fewer votes for the death penalty, the judge can only impose life WITH the possibility of parole.

The jury is gone home for the day.. Don’t know if they’ll listen to that call again tomorrow or what.  Crazy day!