Death in the desert

Jury has a hard time deliberating
Melanie Hudson, the bereaved mother; and Charles Long, who had applied his own special methods to try save her son, waited anxiously in the courtroom  just a few feet from each other—as the jury deliberated on the death of Anthony Haynes.

Three of the jurors sat down with "Dateline" to talk about the case and Charles Long.

Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: Did you think he would testify?

Janet Johnson, juror: I thought he would. He was there. We should have heard from him.

But was he guilty of second-degree murder?

On that question, it soon became apparent, the jury was deeply divided.

Morrison: When you went to deliberate, what happened?

Jack Patton, juror: What once was a normal jury suddenly took on a totally different light.

Morrison: What do you  mean, “different light”?

Jack Patton, juror: We had one person who was stuck at one end of the scale. And we had another person who was stuck at the other end of the scale. And neither of them were willing to compromise.

They discussed Anthony’s mother Melanie Hudson.

Betty Tucker, juror: My heart broke for her. I think that Melanie Hudson was a desperate woman and she just cried out. And Col. Long wanted to help her.

Morrison: Should she have taken any responsibility for what happened do you think? For turning him over to a camp when he was on those heavy duty medications?

Betty Tucker, juror:  She lost her son for the rest of her life I think that that’s quite a bit of responsibility.

They considered the actions of Troy Hutty, the man who’d made a deal for a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony against Long.

Morrison:  What about Troy Hutty? Did you have a sense of wanting to find him, in some way, responsible also?

Betty Tucker, juror:  Yes. Absolutely. He was there.

Jack Patton, juror:  When you listen to Troy Hutty’s testimony, everything was, “The Colonel told me to do this.” “The Colonel to me to do that.” Well, I’m sorry, you’re an adult.

But a verdict on Long? That seemed beyond them.

Morrison: The story about the possibility of suicide was first presented by Long’s wife.

Janet Johnson, juror: I’ve never heard of anyone committing suicide by eating dirt and refusing to drink water.

Jack Patton, juror: I don’t think anybody dehydrates themself to death.

One day passed, then two— jury deliberations went into the next week and the one after that. But still they couldn’t agree.

Morrison: What was it like being on that jury?

Betty Tucker, juror: It was horrible.

Janet Johnson, juror: It was just so heated. And it was like butting your head against the wall. We got nowhere.

Finally, they sent a note to the judge, saying they were deadlocked.

Charles Long became progressively hopeful and prayed for deliverance.

Charles Long: The fact that I have no control over this jury. All I can do is pray and expect a miracle.

Anthony’s mom, though was praying for a conviction.

Melanie Hudson, Anthony’s mom: I’d like to see him do the maximum time. And that way, gives him time to think about what he did to that child.

Three times, the forewoman reported the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

After the third notice, the judge ordered them to rest and come back for one more day.

The next morning, as Melanie Hudson and Charles Long came to court expecting a mistrial to be declared word came from the jury foreman—the deadlock had broken. 

Jack Patton, juror: We had reached a verdict, but I don’t think anybody was happy that we’d reached a verdict.

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