Why Did Defense Team’s Jury Consultant, Richard Gabriel, Suddenly Quit At The Last Minute?

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Until jury consultant Richard Gabriel just quit being the consultant on the Casey Anthony case a few days before jury selection was to occur, I was very concerned. The reason is that he is one of the top jury consultants around. He has represented some of the most high profile cases and he has even written the book on the topic.

So why would he bail ship at the last minute? It is such an unprofessional thing for such a seasoned professional to do. I believe that there are several reasons that may be possible. While it is merely speculation, below are some possible reasons.

Maybe he already got what he wanted- notoriety and name recognition. He got the best press possible in on the highest rated 48 hours where he performed a focus group of people who ended up acquitting Casey. Mind you it was a focus group and not a mock jury trial which many viewers were lead to believe. In any event he got his name known and maybe that was why he took on this high profile case to begin with.
The feedback from this show and his involvement was extremely negative so maybe he wanted to get out before he actually began work on the trial. Many called him a manipulator of justice which may have had an impact on him.
He may have discovered something about the case as he was doing his work that made him realize Casey was guilty and therefore he may not want have wanted to be involved with helping to get a guilty person off.
He may have developed a conscience as he worked on the trial and felt that he couldn’t live with himself if he helped her in any way.
He may have received threats and such vile emails and feedback and calls from passionate people who believe Casey is guilty. Andrea Lyons and Jose Baez have both reported receiving threat and hate mail because of their defending Casey. He may have been frightened away from continuing to assist in Casey’s for fear that something might happen to him or to his family.
If he did succeed in manipulating the jury pool in Casey’s favor and Casey was found not guilty the hateful repercussions towards him would be enormous.
Perhaps he found out the secret location where the jury would be pooled from and realized it would be a losing battle.
He may not have wanted to have such a significant loss on his pristine record.
He may have realized that he would never get paid even if he was promised payment at the end.
He may not have had the three months to devote to this trial and work for free if he received a paying job during those months.
Perhaps all the press he received from the 48 hours piece increased his business from attorneys to the point that he has become overwhelmed and now needs to focus on his new high paying clients.
Maybe he had arranged with Jose all along to only conduct a focus group that would show Casey in a positive light for the pre trial publicity so that both he and Jose could benefit. Maybe he never had any intention of actually engaging in the jury selection process.
Maybe he couldn’t stand working with Jose Baez or Cheney Mason and found it unbearable to continue working on the case with them.
Maybe Casey tried to manipulate him as she has done with every other man with whom she has come in contact.
He realized that picking a jury will be a losing task and he may not be successful in picking a jury, especially with the Sunshine Laws in effect in Florida
He may have believed that the media has tainted the jury pool to the point that he could never chose a jury for Casey.
He may feels that that he has been stifled in how to properly vet potential jurors & they have a bias on the case after Judge Perry would not allow him to use a questionnaire to ask jurors what they feel about the case and what they heard about the case, which could take one hour per juror.

Whatever the reason he is no longer on the team. Initially I was very concerned that there would be an unfair playing field with him at the jury selection helm because the prosecution had no jury consultant on their team. Now that he is gone, there is a much better chance that there will be a fair trial for Casey Anthony in terms of what jury has been selected. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]