foreperson

“Guilty,” the foreperson, whose name has not been publicly released, said in a steady voice.

Then the jury will be brought in, and the foreperson — in New York, that job generally goes to the first juror chosen — will be asked whether the jury has reached a verdict.

That’s how a jury foreperson felt after learning that the amount awarded in a landmark lawsuit over abuse at New Hampshire’s youth detention center could be slashed by nearly 99%.

In their motion, Meehan’s attorneys said the juror’s email statement and others sent by the jury foreperson confirm that jurors misunderstood the verdict form.

“I’m so sorry. I’m absolutely devastated,” the jury foreperson wrote to attorney Rus Rilee on Friday evening, according to the hearing request filed Saturday.