Sidney Lumet’s film, Twelve Angry Men, tells a brilliant tale of how one dissenting voice in a jury of twelve ultimately leads to the unanimous acquital of the accused. The lone dissenter, played by Henry Fonda, gradually convinces his fellow jurors that the case against the accused is unsound. It is great cinema and an uplifting tale. Just today my contact in the charity Lifelines sent me a cutting from the Charlotte Observer (North Carolina) with a very similar story – this one from real life; ‘a lone juror persuaded eleven others to settle for a sentence of life without parole instead of death by lethal injection…’  The accused in this case was by his own admission guilty but his defence argued that he had mental health problems. It’s not the same as walking free but it sends out a strong message to state prosecutors. As one lawyer, quoted in the article, says, “You look at that case as a prosecutor and say ‘If you can’t get the death penalty in that case, gee, what case are you going to get the death penalty in?'” And all because of one angry person on a jury.