Juror speaks out

Web Posted April 2, 2002

A member of the jury that convicted Terry Arnold of an Okanagan murder in 1999 is shocked to know that he has been set free. The juror spoke to CHBC on an agreement to protect her identity. She's fearful because Arnold is out of jail. She says she has no doubt the verdict was correct, and she can't understand the Crown's decision to release Arnold and stay the charges just as his second trial was about to begin. The verdict of the first trial was overturned on appeal and a new trial ordered.

The juror agrees there were mistakes of how evidence was handled in the first trial, saying there were errors and gaps on the transcript of the confession Arnold gave to undercover police. She says jurors had to rely on their own ears to pick out the portion of the confession where Arnold explains exactly how he killed Christine Brown in 1991. Arnold's lawyer, Kevin McCullough, says his client is an innocent man who spent almost 5 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit.