CHICAGO, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Jurors in Chicago twice this week overlooked videotaped confessions of murder suspects and acquitted them both, it was reported Friday.
Their actions broke a string of 850 convictions in such cases, the Chicago Sun-Times said.
"You need more than just the videotape," said a juror in the trial of Leroy Washington, who was found not guilty Monday in the killing of an off-duty Chicago firefighter. "It just didn't jibe, it didn't support the evidence. Jurors like us are getting smarter."
In the second case this week, a jury acquitted Terry Wilson on Thursday of the 2001 slaying of a man he believed was attacking a family member. A juror in that trial said the jury watched Wilson's confession during the trial and at least three other times, but it wasn't enough.
An Illinois law came into effect last month requiring taping of all interrogations and confessions in homicides.
