A judge can parse jury deadlock and misconduct from notes alone.

Evidence

The judge studied the message closely. “The wording is a little odd. ‘We cannot reach a unanimous decision on Question 1.’ That leads me to speculate it may be a five-to-one decision one way or the other.” He paused for a moment and then added, “I should also convey to you that the number two juror was distressed that perhaps one member of the jury was taking the work home and discussing it with people outside. I have no way to verify that except to inquire. I think this lady came downstairs at the tail end of a rather heated argument. She may just be blowing off steam, but I can’t ignore it.” — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 2362

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the reader’s archival-grain material on how officials read formal documents for the anxieties and interests they encode — here a verdict note is mined for subtext.