Attorney: Kurczewski eye drop murder trial unique for length and complexity

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Jessy Kurczewski eye drop murder trial has caught the eye of attorneys and legal analysts throughout the state.

One told us the length of the trial and deliberations is a sign of its complexity.

Most homicide trials take about a week. But the court blocked out three weeks for this trial, and now deliberations will go into a second day.

A defense attorney told us that's significant.

Jillian Scheidegger, an attorney with Cafferty & Scheidegger, said, "I'm sure everybody's exhausted at this point. These things are like marathons."

Scheidegger said the Kurczewski case is a lot for the jury to process. "For a court to budget the amount of time that they did to be able to try this case properly suggests that it's complicated and that there are a lot of moving parts."

Scheidegger said this case is unique in its size and scope.

Older attorneys have told her about cases years ago where discovery would be a few dozen pages of documents.

But, she said, "Most homicide [cases] now, when we're talking about electronic discovery that's involved, I mean, I have cases that have two, three, four terabytes of digital evidence."

And Scheidegger thinks that is the new normal as cellphone, security, and surveillance video becomes more prevalent. That's hours of evidence that everyone involved in a case needs to be familiar with.

Scheidegger said, "And this isn't just the lawyers. This is law enforcement. This is not just the defense lawyers, it's the prosecution. And the jurors."

Scheidegger said it's difficult to predict what juries will decide, but as a defense attorney herself, she openly admits what she thinks the outcome should be. "I think this one's a tough one. I would say at the end of the day, again, I'm biased, so I'm certainly rooting for the defense, but I think they may have a good shot here."

Scheidegger said it's clear to her the attorneys on both sides of this case are very skilled. And she said there have been few noticeable surprises in the courtroom, another sign of their skill.