Reginald Rose

8th Juror: It's very hard to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And no matter where you run into it, prejudice obscures the truth. Well, I don't think any real damage has been done here. Because I don't really know what the truth is. No one ever will, I suppose. Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but we're just gambling on probabilities. We may be wrong. We may be trying to return a guilty man to the community. No one can really know. But we have a reasonable doubt, and this is the safeguard that has enormous value in our system. No jury can declare a man guilty unless it's sure.

11th Juror: I beg pardon, in discussing-

10th Juror: I beg pardon. What are you so damn polite about?

11th Juror: For the same reason you're not. It's the way I was brought up.

10th Juror: What do you want?

8th Juror: Nothing. I just want to talk.

7th Juror: Well, what's there to talk about? Eleven men here agree. Nobody had to think twice about it, except you.

10th Juror: I want to ask you something. Do you believe his story?

8th Juror: I don't know whether I believe it or not. Maybe I don't.

7th Juror: So what'd you vote "not guilty" for?

8th Juror: There were eleven votes for "guilty." It's not easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first.

7th Juror: Who says it's easy for me?

8th Juror: No one.

7th Juror: What, just because I voted fast? I think the guy's guilty. You couldn't change my mind if you talked for a hundred years.

8th Juror: I'm not trying to change your mind. It's just that we're talking about somebody's life here. I mean, we can't decide in five minutes. Suppose we're wrong?