A juror who says he was the last hold-out before convicting Greg Kelley for sexually assaulting a 4-year-old boy, expressed deep regret that he collapsed under what he described as pressure from fellow jurors to find the former high school football star guilty.
In an exclusive interview with KVUE Defender and Austin American-Statesman reporter Tony Plohetski, the juror said he thinks Kelley is innocent and should be exonerated.
"I was trying to bring up points -- were Y'all watching the same trial I was?" said the juror, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "I was trying to convince them."
Court records show that after about 11 hours of deliberations, the jury was divided 9-3 and sent a note to the judge showing that the past several votes had shown no progress.
The juror who agreed to be interviewed said that he was the last holdout and that fellow jurors grew angry at their failure to reach a consensus.
"'We want to go home. We want to go home,'" they said. "I said, well just for Y'all, I'll change my vote."
Kelley was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was convicted on charges of super aggravated sexual assault.
In the past three weeks, Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick confirmed that Kelley's best friend at the time, Johnathan McCarty, is now a suspect in the case.
After Kelley's parents became seriously ill, he lived with McCarty, whose mother operated an in-home daycare.
"That kid had his whole life ahead of him. He had a scholarship to play football and everything, and we took that away from him," the juror said. "He should be exonerated for everything, his named be cleared. He needs to get his life back."
RELATED: