Hung Jury: The Diary of a Menendez Juror

The author is obviously very intelligent and well-versed in public speaking. The humorous nature of her journal entries made it enjoyable to read—I laughed a few times! She is very analytical, and I liked that. Very professional and loved all her jury notes on each brother’s testimony. I felt like I was watching the trial as a juror. I just wish it was longer and contained more details about the trial!

Being around the same age as Lyle and Erik Menendez, I was absolutely captivated by the first trial. I remember watching it every single day on Court TV back in the day. Like Hazel Thorton, I started out assuming what the prosecution alleged must be true...they killed for the money...but by the end, I was totally swayed by the defense's case. I came to the conclusion that the boys had been abused for all of their lives and were in imminent fear the night they shot their parents. I came to my decision not necessarily based on emotion, but rather very methodically and rationally, having payed close attention to the totality of the evidence presented.For years I avoided reading ANY books about the case because I was devastated when they were convicted the second time around, and I didn't want to read any salacious books that twisted the actual evidence to fit the "greed" narrative when the actuality was so much more complex. I saw how writers like Dominick Dunne were able to do to twist the facts of this case and sway public opinion and I wanted no part of that.It wasn't until the recent coverage of the case came to pass that Hazel's book came onto my radar. I kept hearing so many positive things about it in the national conversation so I decided to give it a try and was not disappointed. Ms. Thornton has written a compelling first-hand account of what it was like to be in that jury box and just how seriously they all took their duty. She reached her own conclusions (manslaughter 1) in a very intelligent and diligent manner and as much as the outcome wasn't what I had hoped for, she restored my faith in the jury system.The second half of the book takes Hazel's observations and commentary and compares them against assumptions we make about the jury system in this country. It is truly enlightening because as much as we like to think a jury of one's peers is the best system in the world, it is far from perfectand very vulnerable to preconceived notions and prejudices. I think the Menendez case is a perfect example of the fallibility of our judicial system as it was very hard (and uncomfortable) for the male jurors on Erik's case to conceive of a father molesting his sons (whereas if they would have been daughters, there's no doubt in my mind those men would have voted manslaughter).If you have read nothing else about this case - READ THIS BOOK. This is not a juror selling their story for money or their 15 minutes of fame. These are authentic notes for herself that she never even thought would ever reach the light of day. Her book is honest, authentic, tragic, and still uplifting. You will not be disappointed!

Such a good read! I could not put it down from the second I opened it. It gives such an interesting perspective of the trial that we don’t see every day. I will definitely be re-reading this in the near future. I would highly recommend it to anyone!

This juror did a good job of explaining her experience quite brilliantly. I would love to see anyone as capable as she seemed to be on any American jury.

I have recently gone down the rabbit hole of the Menendez brothers' case and was excited to get this book. I had heard that the author, as a juror, kept 400 hundred pages of notes, so I was really excited to get the book. I was shocked to find such a small, thin book (not to mention, that I paid for a brand new book from Amazon but instead, clearly, got an old used book) anyway -- It was delivered this morning and I have already read the entire thing! It only took about four hours to read the entire book. There's really not a lot here. It kind of reads like a teenage girl's diary -- so many exclamation points! I mean, it's okay. I didn't really learn anything new. It was weird, at one point, that she says in her notes that people were asking her if she were going to write a book and "make a million dollars" and she says, "I can be bought." I don't know. It makes me worry about jurors. I don't know if they all take cases as seriously as they should. Reading this, it seems they get caught up in things they shouldn't, like the celebrity of a case or writing books or whatnot. Three stars.

I'm about the same age as Eric Menendez (he's a month or so younger than me) so when all this was going on back then, it was gripping to watch people my age going through this. I wanted to read this book when I knew the Law and Order True Crime series was coming out, and to get ahead of it so that I could evaluate how accurate I thought the show was as it treated the story. Hung Jury was such an unique way to learn the story, not just of the murders and the trials, but of the perspective that so very few people had in their front row seats, with the decision-making responsibility they had. This book is its own type of historical non-fiction... even though on every page, you're still in disbelief that it is not actually fiction! If the trial or the story has become interesting to you because of watching Law and Order, you'll definitely appreciate this companion to it!

It is so refreshing to see a strong, educated and analytical woman reflecting on the case. She stood her ground despite the aggressive manner in which the men tried to bully her into changing her views. That is very commendable in general and especially years ago during a time where women may not have felt as confident. Years ago, it appears that people were not open minded and refused to acknowledge that men could be abused. Thornton was ahead of her time regarding open minded views and awareness of the impact trauma can have on a people.

Hazel's journal gives a different perspective to a memorable trial from the 90s. Her viewpoint as a juror brings the inside story to light. Good read and directly to the point.

Intressant fall med twist & turns. Frågan är om dom inte borde bli utsläppta nu. Få se om det blir en ny process. Följer med spänning.

Da un pò di settimane a questa parte mi sono appassionata molto al caso dei Menendez. Ho acquistato questo libro scritto da Hazel Thornton, giurata n°9 della giuria di Erik Menendez.Il libro è in inglese, non esiste in italiano, ma nonostante ciò è semplice e spiega passo per passo, o meglio, giorno per giorno, quello che è successo dal punto di vista della giurata, includendo anche momenti della sua vita di quel periodo.Il libro evidenzia anche i pareri discordanti e i pensieri che nascevano fra giurati durante il famoso processo del 1993.E' interessante scoprire cosa pensa e cosa fa la giuria durante questi momenti storici.Il libro si conclude poi con il commento di una psicologa, che spiega dal punto di vista psicologico il compito della giuria e come si comporta durante i processi.Seguo Hazel su instagram, è molto carina e simpatica. You're doing great, Hazel!♥️

Great book from the point of view of a juror who is in favor of the brothers

I had the pleasure of reading this book on a recent holiday and from the moment I picked it up, I could hardly put it down! Reading Hazel’s words made me feel as if I was in the room watching the trial myself. I was never bogged down with legal jargon as she explained things carefully and also added humour in certain parts too.Would highly recommend this book!

In meinem Buch ist alles schief gedruckt, sogar das Titelblatt, was aber nicht allzu schlimm ist man muss sich nur dran gewöhnen