The court made a misjudgment on four of those jurors. Led by the foreman, Edward Bushell (a man of property and substance), they held firm. The other eight gave in to the demands of the court and were freed.

Nine weeks passed. Conditions at Newgate Prison were more than deplorable. Jurors were often soaked in their own urine and smeared with their own feces.

Finally, England's high court got involved. The Lord Chief Justice, Sir John Vaughn, freed the jurors in response to Bushell's Writ for Habeas Corpus (bring up the body). It was the first time (in a decision known as "Bushell's Case) that the High Court of Common Pleas had issued such a writ.

Penn's case, and his jury, changed the law. In the future, jurors would not be required to rubberstamp the agenda of government officials. For the first time, government had met jurors whose "Liberty was not for sale."

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