Crime Scene

Juror #6 at the James Cooke murder trial in Delaware would have been excused – literally – if he couldn’t focus entirely on the testimony. His mother just died.

But when Judge Jerome Herlihy called him into the courtroom this afternoon to see if he could stay on the jury, he didn’t hesitate for a second.

“My mother was civic minded, she would have wanted me to continue,” he told the judge, adding that he didn’t expect to need an adjournment in the trial because the funeral would be over the weekend when the trial was not in session.

The judge asked if he thought his loss might make it difficult for him to concentrate during the trial.

“It might actually be helping,” the juror responded. “It may sound weird but (the trial) is a distraction for me right now.”