By Sky News US Team
Jurors have spoken out about their decision to acquit a man who strangled his four-year-old and tried to kill his other two children because he was "sleepwalking".
A jury in Durham, North Carolina, decided that Joseph Anthony Mitchell was not guilty of murder and attempted murder after an expert witness said he was effectively unconscious at the time of his attacks four years ago.
Mr Mitchell testified at the trial that he was in financial distress and had not been sleeping well. He said he had no recollection of the attack.
"I didn't believe one word out of that man's mouth," one juror, who asked to remain anonymous, told ABC.
But, the juror said, they felt their hands were tied.
The jury of nine women and three men had asked Superior Court Judge James Roberson if they could consider a lesser verdict of manslaughter, but the judge said it was all or nothing: murder, or not guilty.
"If manslaughter had been an option, that's what we would've done," the anonymous juror told ABC.
"We weren't thinking that he should get away with it by any means."
Mr Mitchell, 50, sobbed after Wednesday's verdict. His ex-wife, Christine Perolini, was so shocked that she hyperventilated and had to be wheeled out on a stretcher.
Prosecutors said financial difficulties drove Mr Mitchell to kill his son Blake and try to kill the others. Mr Mitchell's 13-year-old and 10-year-old children said they fought him off.
An expert called by the defence said Mr Mitchell's stress and lack of sleep likely resulted in "non-REM parasomnia," a sleep disorder whose sufferers can perform random acts unconsciously.
Because of this disorder, he was incapable of exercising criminal intent, the expert said.
A psychologist who testified for the prosecution after repeatedly interviewing Mr Mitchell said he had no mental condition that would have left him unconscious during the attacks, and that he must have consciously planned them.
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