A panel of jurors who spent six months inside the Fulton County Courthouse weighing a monumental racketeering case against 12 educators say they knew how important their verdict was.
"We all understood why we were there," juror Raquel Sabogal told Channel 2's Aaron Diamant.
Sabogal, Charles Jefferson and jury foreman George Little spoke for the first time on television Friday.
"For me the whole issue of the case was because of the children and their education," Sabogal said. "As we went through, the evidence just piled up person by person, school by school, district by district and I was like, 'Wow.'"
Little said the jury methodically maintained focus and managed to keep their emotions of out of the equation.
"I made an oath at the beginning that I would put my thoughts to the side and solely rely on the evidence that was presented to me," Little told Diamant. "I feel we got it right. Without a doubt, 100 percent, we got it right.
Jefferson said the trial took a toll on him.
"I was depressed at times, sometimes I had better days," Jefferson said. "I would come in emotionally drained."
Twenty-one other members of the Atlanta Public School system pleaded guilty to lesser charges before the trial.
Former APS superintendent Beverly Hall faced 45 years in prison, but never stood trial because of terminal cancer.
Sabogal and Jefferson told Diamant it was hard for them to think that Hall didn't know about the cheating.
"To say that you didn't know what was going on is incredible. You had all the data, the data was there for you," Jefferson said.
The three jurors told Diamant they felt like the students were cheated out of an education and opportunities.
