At 27, Sven was the youngest juror by about 10 years. The way he understood it, the jurors had to reach unanimous decision. He was also afraid that if he opposed the group, he would result in a hung jury and a mistrial.
In 2008, Sven Berger was chosen to serve on the jury for a murder trial. He says the sentence that he and his fellow jurors handed down “felt like a mistake right away.”
Sven talked about what happened next on the podcast Heavyweight, and today, we’re sharing that episode with you. Maurice Chammah originally reported on Sven’s story for The Marshall Project.