April 15, 1989

Jurors Say They Had Difficulty Voting For Acquittal by Reason of Insanity

When jurors first voted on murder charges against Michael Hayes, they split almost evenly among those who found him insane, those who said that he was guilty of first-degree murder, and those who couldn't decide.

That was Tuesday afternoon. By Thursday night, when the illness of a juror suspended deliberations, the vote as 11-1 for acquittal by reason of insanity.

The jury talked just an hour more yesterday before announcing that they had a verdict.

The hardest part, several said, was saying that a man who killed four people, wounded five and fired on or threatened three more, was not guilty.

"It was discussed how other states have a verdict of 'guilty but insane' " said Anthony L. Paschal. "We would have liked to have had that."

Pamela Hawkins said that marking the "not guilty" box was hard. "We just hated that because it was almost like saying that he didn't do it," she said.

The jury had to decide between 55 possible verdicts on 12 counts. But the arguments concentrated on the murder charges and the insanity.

The first vote was taken shortly after the eight women and four men began deliberating at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mrs. Hawkins said that four voted in favor of not guilty by reason of insanity, three to four for first-degree murder, and the rest were undecided.

There were a couple of votes that afternoon, but only a few votes changed. Carolyn K. Beery was one who started off undecided, but she made up her mind Wednesday in favor of the insanity defense.

She said that she could not get around the testimony of the psychologist and two psychiatrists. They'd testified that Hayes suffered from schizophrenia and did not know right from wrong on July 17 as he shot at passing cars along Old Salisbury Road.

The jury went home at 4:30 p.m. that day. After they returned Thursday morning they took another vote, and the split was 9-3 in favor of acquittal.

The jury came back into the courtroom at 2:35 p.m. Thursday and asked Judge James A. Beaty Jr. to repeat the instruction on insanity. Some jurors were concerned that Hayes seemed rational at some times and crazy at others.

Beaty told the jury that it was possible to be sane on every issue except one and still be legally insane. A vote shortly after that showed a decisive shift, said Peggy H. Taylor.

"The two that were wavering, that cleared it up for them," she said. "Everybody was convinced but one."

That evening, juror Shirley R. Gordon, who declined to discuss the deliberations, became ill from an ulcer. Beaty called in a doctor and suspended deliberations.

Mrs. Gordon returned with the rest of the jurors at 2 p.m. yesterday. Mrs. Beery said that they reviewed the insanity law and discussed their concern that Hayes might be freed if he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. At 3:10 p.m. they announced they had a verdict.

It took 10 minutes for Beaty and Forsyth sheriff's deputies to arrange the courtroom security. The jury was called in and handed Beaty the verdict sheets. Beaty told them that they had forgotten to fill in parts of the sheets. He sent them out once more. They returned five minutes later and the verdicts were read.

The jurors who spoke to the Journal all said that they felt sympathy for the victims and their families. Foreman Teresa L. Jones said, "It was the very hardest thing ever done for all of us."

Paschal said he thought that prosecutors had tried to use that sympathy to win the case.

"They tried to sway us emotionally," he said. "But we all felt that he had serious mental problems....

"We were intent on giving this man a fair trial."