Bible Briefly In Jury Room Does Not Result In Mistrial

In Columbus, Mississippi, attorneys for Kristi Leigh Fulgham failed in their call on Saturday for a mistrial after Bailiff James Austin complied with a juror's request to leave a Bible in the jury room during jury deliberations. Yesterday's Columbus Commercial Dispatch reports that the Bible was in the jury room for only 15 minutes at the beginning of the jury's deliberations on whether Fulgham should receive life in prison or the death sentence for the murder of her husband in 2003. The jury returned a sentence of death by lethal injection. Bailiff Austin, a minister, said he regrets his actions.