Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. managed to offend jurors at his corruption trial even before his attorneys opened their mouths.
“From the very time we actually met, when the judge was introducing everybody, he was the only one that didn’t stand,” said the jury foreman, a married father of three from Queens who declined to give his name.
“Not that I’m anyone important — but at least show some kind of respect,” he said.
The juror also criticized Boyland’s “nonchalant” demeanor during the monthlong trial.
“I don’t know much of him as an elected official — but his behavior in the courtroom was too nonchalant for being in the position that he was in,” the juror said. “It was like he wasn’t taking it seriously.”
The juror called the prosecution case, built on hours of video and audio surveillance, persuasive.
“The prosecuting lawyers, they were on point with everything they were showing us, and I just felt like the defense wasn’t really showing anything otherwise,” he said. “The hole just kept getting deeper and deeper.”
He scoffed at defense claims that Boyland was merely “playing the players” and never intended to perform the political favors he promised to undercover agents in exchange for cash.
“It didn’t go well,” the juror said of that defense strategy. “We didn’t even understand why that was part of it.”