AKRON – A jury could not reach a consensus on whether two former FirstEnergy executives paid a $4.3 million bribe, yielding a mistrial Tuesday.

For a while after closing arguments, the jury forewoman, Jackie Steward, couldn’t make up her mind either. But after days in seclusion, reviewing more than 600 pieces of evidence and weighing six weeks of testimony, she said the patterns became unmissable.

It seemed like “everything” FirstEnergy did went against basic, acceptable business practices, she said.

“In the end, I’m disappointed that we did not come to a consensus because I felt that we should have sent these guys to jail,” she said in an interview Wednesday.

“But to me, yes, it’s clear that there’s bribery, and it’s clear that there’s a long pattern of corruption.”

Inside the jury room

She said the jury was split either 10-2 or 9-3 in favor of convicting former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and senior vice president of external affairs Mike Dowling on bribery and other charges.

The two holdouts, she said, were extremely “linear” thinkers. They might walk outside and see snow on the ground and on their cars, hear meteorologists discuss overnight snowfall, and see plows on the road. But such “circumstantial” evidence wouldn’t persuade them.

“Why don’t you think it’s snow?” Steward said. “Their response is: ‘Because I did not see the snowflakes form in the sky.’ So we knew we could not get them to move. What do you do with that?”

She said jurors tried multiple approaches to persuade the holdouts. They read emails aloud, role-played scenarios and set aside time for individual review. But after eight days of deliberations, the minority remained unmoved.

Judge Susan Baker Ross excluded several key facts from evidence, including the cause of death (suicide) of Sam Randazzo, an alleged co-conspirator who prosecutors say accepted the bribe. Steward, a health care administrator and Air Force veteran from Cuyahoga Falls, said the entire jury had a “burning question” about what happened to Randazzo.

Jurors also did not hear about former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence for accepting what federal prosecutors described as a $60 million bribe from FirstEnergy through Jones and Dowling. State prosecutors, unlike their federal counterparts, did not charge the two defendants in connection with the Householder scheme.

“So, again, most of us did not know Householder was serving time,” she said, describing a recent surge in news consumption now that she is no longer barred from following coverage of the case.

“So if I’m feeling that there’s a lot of information that we didn’t know, I’m sure those two juror holdouts are probably saying, ‘Wow, maybe I should have known about this.’”

At first, she said, she was overwhelmed by what she described as “an army” of defense attorneys. Recent court filings list 17 lawyers. Steward recalled thinking there were more defense attorneys in the courtroom than jurors – though she said that made sense given the scope of the allegations, which in some ways involved all of FirstEnergy’s 2 million customers.

Neither Jones nor Dowling testified in their own defense. But prosecutors played footage of a 2023 deposition in which they say Dowling lied and contradicted himself. Steward agreed.

“I think the most damaging thing for the defense was Michael Dowling’s deposition video,” she said. “He misspoke several times, and his body language and overall presentation were damaging.”

Steward’s account of jury dynamics largely aligns with comments from another juror who spoke with reporters Tuesday afternoon.

After two months, Steward said she is glad to have her life back. She is disappointed the jury could not reach a verdict but proud of her role as foreperson – leading a bedrock institution of constitutional democracy.

She thanked her employer, Summa Health, for its flexibility during her extended absence, along with her fellow jurors and courthouse staff.

“The only downside now is adjusting to the fact that no one will stand up when I walk in or out of a room anymore,” she said. “I guess my moment of courtroom glory has come to an end.”