According to CNN’s Lisa Bloom and Beth Karas, yesterday the jury in the Raynella Dossett-Leath trial asked to hear the 911 call in which the defendant hysterically asked for help to be sent to the scene.

This suggests to me that at least one juror has bought into the prosecution’s assertion that the defendant ought to have had blood on her whether or not she was innocent. As a nurse, they claim, when she found the body she instinctively (and by training?) would have gone to her husband’s assistance and possibly even held him close to her. Instead of being an exculpatory fact, the lack of blood on her clothing is being used against the defendant.

Earlier, I said that jury questions during the testimony had convinced me that at least one juror had already convicted the defendant. This 911 tape request reinforces my belief that the best outcome the defense can expect is a hung jury.

When the 911 tape was first played in court, I noted that it sounded as if Ms. Dossett-Leath was calling for help for her husband. This struck me as odd: surely even a non-medical person would have known a man lying with open eyes and a bullet hole in his forehead was past help. Of course, she might have been calling for help for herself. It’s hard to tell. The tape isn’t clear.

I dislike the way the courts (lawyers and judges) make blanket statements about the way a person should behave in a crisis. I’ve been through crises—I know how people react: people react in unique ways. Everyone is different. We are all unique. For example, the first responder found the defendant lying face down and silent on the lawn (if I heard correctly). But as soon as he or she touched Ms. Dossett-Leath she began to wail. The prosecution thought this suspicious, too. But I can assure you that someone who learns of the death of a loved one goes through a rollercoaster of emotions: it is very stupid to think you can tell how a person feels during such times by the way she is behaving.

This is why I’m addicted to courtroom drama: as a writer, I try to observe human nature closely. I want to depict people as we really are, not as TV commentators stereotype us and not as we are reduced by psychologists to “personality types.” The Dossett-Leath case is a rich and complex human tragedy.

The request for the 911 tape, tells me that a few jurors are buying into the prosecution’s arguments Personally, I found much of the state’s closing argument offensive—reminiscent of a witch hunt, literally. Court is no place to call upon Satan. (Is this an appellate issue? Can the State of Tennessee tell a jury to send a defendant to Hell?)