The Jury

"Her duty is to vote her conscience." (http://www.best-norman-rockwell-art.com/1959-the-jury.html)

The Jury circa 1959 courtesy http://www.best-norman-rockwell-art.com/1959-the-jury.html.

Twelve individuals gather in a wood panelled room.  A lamp hangs above them.  Cigarette smoke lingers in the air, but not as thick as the tension.  Eleven men stare at the lone holdout, a woman, who prevents the jury from reaching a unanimous verdict.  Her body languages shows, however, that she is not easily persuaded.  Her duty is to vote her conscience.

Norman Rockwell's painting, The Jury, which first appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on February 14, 1959, may have been inspired by the major motion picture Twelve Angry Men which debuted in 1957.  The movie, which starred Henry Fonda as the foreman, featured a hung jury.  Eleven members were ready to hang the accused; however, the twelfth just couldn't bring himself to convict him.  One by one, after much deliberation, the eleven members come to the same conclusion. The entire movie is filmed in one room, much like a play.  In fact, Reginald Rose wrote the original play back in 1954 for a CBS anthology television series.

Twelve Angry Men still shows how the men cannot reach a consensus courtesy http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/A/12%20Angry%20Men.htm.

Reginald Rose's "Twelve Angry Men"

"They arrive with calcified prejudices and hardened hearts, testosterone positively steaming up the windows."

One room, one day, twelve men.  It's the hottest day of the year.  The men are charged with deciding the fate of a young teenager who has supposedly killed his father.  The jury reaches a verdict:  eleven vote guilty, one votes not guilty.  It's a hung jury.  

Over the course of the day, the dissenter manages to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of the other jurors.  The vote is recast over and over.  If declared guilty, the accused faces the death penalty.  His fate rests in the hands of "twelve angry men".  

In 1954, Rose Reginald served on a New York City jury in a manslaughter case, his inspiration for Twelve Angry Men.  He explained:  "[The] moment I walked into the courtroom...and found myself facing a strange man whose fate was suddenly more or less in my hands,  my entire attitude changed." (http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3420700025/twelve-angry-men.html)

Reginald wrote a play for television in 1955.  Two years later, a film premiered, starring Henry Fonda.  A stage play followed, debuting in London in 1964.  

Twelve Angry Men movie scene circa 1957 courtesy http://jasoncollin.org/2013/09/01/12-angry-men-1957-movie-review-recommended/.