The jury asking to go home early probably means they are in an entrenched situation with heated arguments on both sides. I expect another note tomorrow morning followed by a dynamite charge and then hung for good in the afternoon. I sincerely hope I'm wrong and that they reached a decision but wanted to sleep on it tonight.
Convo with a friend, one of the few leftist friends from my theatre days I have left:
Her: I hope you're happy.
Me: About?
Her: Trump is trying to block mail-in voting.
Me: No, he's not.
Her: I know; you only believe Trump.
Me: What? No.
Her: So admit it. He's trying to block mail-in voting.
Me: He's not. He's just trying to make sure the people getting the ballots are the people who SHOULD be getting them and then returning them. That's it.
Her: What do you mean?
Me: I mean they're just trying to put a barcode on the outside of the envelope so nobody gets taken advantage of and people get their ballots securely in the mail.
Her: I don't believe you.
Me: Where did you hear he's blocking mail-in voting?
Her: ...
Me: Ok. Let me send you the details, and you can decide for yourself what he's really trying to do.
Her: Fine. Whatever.
-- 15 minutes after I sent it --
Her: Why wouldn't people want the barcode on the outside of the envelope?
Have those talks with friends who disagree with you, even if they're maddening sometimes. It can be worth it.