GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Court TV) — Deliberations got off to a rough start in Suzanne Mericle‘s murder trial when one of the jurors refused to participate in discussions with the rest of the panel.
Suzanne Mericle testifies in her murder trial on March 24, 2026. (Court TV)
Mericle, 62, is charged with murder, aggravated assault and criminal damage in the death of her boyfriend, James David Barron. Mericle admits she shot Barron through the door of the bedroom in the home they shared, but maintained she acted in self-defense when she pulled the trigger.
After six days of witness testimony, which included the defendant taking the stand, the jury was handed the case on Thursday afternoon. But within two hours of being sent back to begin deliberations, the jury sent a note to the court saying it had a problem.
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The note indicated that a single juror was refusing to participate in any discussions. The note read, in part, “A juror has declared, immediately upon entering room, he will not change his mind, will not discuss and deliberate. We have talked about how we want to understand his reasoning because we are collectively here to reach a verdict and help each other make a decision. He said he is not obligated to change his mind or to be open-minded. He was open-minded in the courtroom. Everyone is concerned and explained they are concerned he entered with bias.”
Judge John Breakfield skipped reading a portion of the note which he felt would have indicated which way the juror was leaning before continuing. “He will not explain any reasoning other than ‘it’s his feelings, and he knows how these things work.’ We have tried explaining we value his thoughts and why he thinks that way, and said he won’t do that because our opinion is ours and his is his, and he will not try to change ours.”
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The jury was brought back into the courtroom, where Breakfield re-read the jury instructions to the panel before sending it back to continue deliberations. There were no further messages from the jury before it left for the day. The jurors returned to continue their deliberations on Friday morning.
While prosecutors have painted Mericle as “unhinged” and “in a fit of rage” when she shot the victim, her attorneys have argued that the defendant is a victim of abuse at the hands of her boyfriend. Mericle testified to a number of violent incidents in the relationship, which she had never previously revealed prior to the trial.
If she’s convicted of the top charges of murder, Mericle faces a life sentence in prison.
