Temple Trial Takeaways
As you doubtlessly know by now, the punishment phase of The State of Texas vs. David Temple ended in a mistrial on Friday after jurors failed to reach an agreement on an appropriate punishment for the man they easily convicted of murder. I've heard from multiple credible sources that the split between the jurors was 10-2, with ten of the jurors demanding Life in prison for the man they convicted of killing his 8-month-pregnant wife, Belinda, by placing a shotgun to the back of her head and pulling the trigger. The remaining two jurors were holding out for something far less and neither side seemed willing to budge from their position despite almost two days of deliberations. A jury that convicts but then deadlocks over punishment is not unheard of, but it is fairly uncommon. Since Temple was convicted of a 1999 murder, the law of 1999 applies to the case. Back then a person could receive probation for murder, so Temple could technically receive it, as well. Due to this, th