Cutts jury ... day two ... all quiet ...

It's been a morning of silence ... the media spending its time avoiding boredom.

We've shared stories of the business, talked about last night's debate for hours, compared notes on the old "Electric Company" show from PBS, and watched SNL sketches on our laptops.

That's what WE are doing ..

What the jury is doing, we just don't know yet. No word from anyone. No questions to the judge. No sounds whatsoever. It's really not much of a surprise. Jurors weren't in a hurry during the trial phase, so why should we expect anything different?

At lunch today, Prosecutor Dennis Barr was seated at a table at the same restaurant that a lot of the media frequented. Around 12:30, a national cable news network began playing video of the Cutts trial as a "Death Penalty Watch" banner was on the screen. It was odd to watch Barr's face as he was watching the national news coverage. Here's little ol' Canton .. right on the national stage.

The wait continues .. Eric

Cutts uses six minutes to apologize, beg for his life

Bobby Cutts boiled the argument of his life down to six minutes. He cried as a he read from a prepared statement in which he asked for forgiveness from Jessie Marie Davis' parents as well as Myesha Ferrell for "dragging her into my nightmare." He also said he was sorry for leaving Blake alone at home.

Six minutes .... 360 seconds ...

Prosecutors called no witnesses offering only an opening statement that Cutts deserved the maximum penalty for such a heinous crime. At a minimum, we had anticipated hearing from Jessie's mother and at least one medical expert on the amount of time it took for baby Chloe to die after Jessie had been killed. Yet, we had none of that.

Instead, the defense rolled along with tearful testimony from each of Bobby's parents along with friends and colleagues who all describe Cutts as a good guy who made a horrible decision.

Why the prosecution called off the dogs I have no idea ... although there is much speculation. Usually, any time the prosecution puts down its guns even when there's still ammo on the chamber revolves around the wishes of the victim's family. I'm not saying there is any evidence that Jessie's family asked prosecutors to back off at the penalty phase, but that's typically been the case at other trials I've covered.

And in the end .. it came down to those six minutes. His crying voice was heard as testimony not given under oath -- it's a legal maneuver that protected Cutts from cross-examination.

Jurors begin deliberating tomorrow ... and as I mentioned earlier today (see previous blog posting), there's no telling how fast or slow they'll come to a decision. Prosecutors have already announced that they will hold a press conference in the prosecutor's office 45 minutes after the verdict is read -- whenever that may be.

Still, you can bet those six minutes will be a key factor in making this decision. Life? or death? Everyone has talked about this moment for so long; now finally on Tuesday, 12 real people will have to make a real decision about what should happen to Bobby Cutts.

You can bet they'll spend more than six minutes thinking about their choice ... and the rest of their lives replaying how they made it.

Most think jurors should sentence Bobby Cutts to die

The poll was unscientific, unchecked, and unusual .. but the question was simple: "should jurors give Bobby Cutts the death penalty?"

31 voted "yes" while 18 voted "no". That's roughly 64-36 .. which would be a landslide if this were a Presidential primary ... but I can't tell if Obama or Clinton actually took the time to vote.

The one thing I found this week is that everyone does have an opinion here. Many shared with me what they thought they would do if on the jury .. and usually followed it by what they thought this jury will do.

A man at church told me that he doesn't believe in the death penalty but it wouldn't surprise him if the jurors in this case voted to recommend a death sentence.

Among the emails I received:

"The fact that he is EVEN eligible for the death penalty - is so upsetting. NO he should not get the death penalty."

"He needs to be put to death. To kill your son's mother in front of the child and leave him alone for more than 24 hours is not someone who deserves to live. Why should my tax money support this loser for life."

"As much of a scumbag I think he is, I still oppose giving him 'the needle' at Lucasville."

Others wrote that if ever someone deserved the DP, it's Cutts. Of those who felt that way, some admit that while they feel he deserves to die for his crimes, they'd have a tough time signing their names recommending it.

I wonder if the votes would have been different had I worded the poll "would YOU give Bobby Bobby Cutts the DP?" or "WILL jurors give Bobby Cutts the DP?"

If nothing else, the last 10 days since Cutts was found guilty of aggravated murder have given us all a chance to weigh our thoughts on the death chamber. Is it cruel and unusual? Is it fair? Does it prevent future crimes? Is it really our role in life to kill others?

I'll be in Canton tomorrow to cover closing arguments and the jury's deliberations. The only thing consistent about this trial so far is that it's been unpredictable. No one expected the prosecution to wrap up in just one week's time. No one expected Bobby Cutts to take the stand and admit to killing Jessie Marie Davis. No one expected that there would be no rebuttal witnesses and jurors would begin deliberating after just 6.5 days of testimony. No one predicted that jurors would spend three nights in a hotel deliberating what would end up as a split decision: murder for Jessie's death; aggravated murder for baby Chloe.

The way all of this has gone, we'll probably end up having the verdict read Tuesday night as Northeast Ohio is engaged in watching the Democratic debate. If that happens, our station will be in a quandary as to whether to run a crawl on the bottom of the screen about the Cutts decision during the debate .. or to wait until the 11 p.m. newscast. These are the contingencies that the media must now anticipate.

If Cutts were to receive the DP, he'd be the first cop in Ohio to be on death row and the first in America to get the death penalty in the murder of an unborn child. Historically, fewer than a third of DP cases in Stark County have led to the death chamber -- so history is on Cutts' side.

Cutts cross-examination; webchat tonight!

After a full afternoon of Bobby Cutts baring his soul, jurors are now being instructed to pack a bag tomorrow in anticipation of being sequested following the end of testimony. Join me here for webchat at 8:30 tonight!

After Cutts came clean in a pool of tears that he had killed Jessie with an accidental elbow to the head during an argument, prosecutors hit back. They began by asking Cutts if he "cried this much" when he dumped Jessie's body in the woods. Later, a prosecutor pushed Cutts' buttons asking him if he thought Jessie's fetus died when Cutts hit her with the elbow and later why little Blake thought mommy was "in the rug."

The jurors' questions to Bobby seemed to have emotional tags to them. One juror asked why Cutts didn't leave Myesha Ferrell to watch Blake while he was dumping the body.

Oddly enough, a case that some thought would take a month has instead of taken six days: five for the proesecution (including opening statements) and just one for the defense.

So what did you think of the testimony? Join me live tonight for webchat here at 8:30 p.m. Eric