JUROR: Vote was 10-1 to convict Ferguson on most charges

DETROIT (WXYZ) - One of the 11 jurors on the Bobby Ferguson trial is breaking her silence, saying that on several counts, 10 of 11 jurors wanted to convict at least some of the defendants.

“I can tell you first hand that the votes were 10 to 1 on almost all counts and I'm so happy this is going to trial again,” said juror Theresa Burchett Sparks.  “hope they pay for what they have done to Detroit."

Burchett-Sparks made the comments, which include grammatical errors, on Facebook last night after jurors told Judge David Lawson that they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict Tuesday on all 8 criminal counts. But the previous Friday, jurors said they had reached a consensus on some. 

But at least one juror changed his or her mind over the weekend. According to Burchett-Sparks the hold out juror on several counts was  African-American. 

“I'm glad to get back to my life but sad that just one of jurors (black) didn't agree with what the other 10 of us seen...maybe in round 2...,” she said. 

Attorneys for Bobby Ferguson and other defendants had no comment or did not return phone calls this afternoon.  It should be pointed out that on at least one count, according to Burchett-Sparks, the vote was 10-1 not to convict, with Burchett-Sparks voting with the majority.  We don’t know on which count, though.

We couldn’t reach Burchett-Sparks this afternoon at her home, but her postings make it clear how strongly she felt about the defendants’ guilt.      

“this was people doing some illigal stuff and simply got caught,” she wrote yesterday. “...and their day is coming...”

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