When Martin Littlefield is asked about juries and police officers, he points to the police brutality trial he oversaw 17 years ago.
It was shortly after 9/11 and Littlefield, a federal prosecutor in Buffalo, was pursuing a local law enforcement official in a case he described as open and shut.
To his surprise, the jury returned a not guilty verdict.
A few days later, Littlefield said, one of the jurors sent him a note apologizing for the verdict and explaining why they acquitted a cop they knew was guilty.