Legal expert reveals why Netflix The Crash's Mackenzie rejected a jury at murder trial
Legal expert reveals why Netflix The Crash's Mackenzie rejected a jury at murder trial
Charl WrightTue, May 26, 2026 at 1:43 PM UTC
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Mackenzie Shirilla is currently serving 15 years to life in prison -Credit:Netflix (Netflix)
Two prominent legal experts have shared their theories about why Mackenzie Shirilla rejected a jury at her murder trial.
Shirilla, 21, was convicted in 2023 of 12 counts, including four counts of homicide for killing Dominic Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 19. The convicted murderer killed the two men after she drove her car at nearly 100mph into a brick building on July 31, 2022. Both Russo and Flanagan died at the scene, while Shrilla, who was 17 at the time, was left with life-changing injuries.
As the incident occurred in Ohio, Shirilla was found guilty of four murder charges, despite only killing two people, as murder charges can be brought under different legal theories in this state. It comes after a separate horrifying incident where a woman, 27, was gang raped, stabbed 50 times, and forced to carry her intestines in her hands.
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The case has recently appeared in Netflix's The Crash, which focuses on the events leading up to, during, and after Shirilla killed Russo and Flanagan.
However, one aspect of the documentary left fans perplexed: Shirilla choosing a bench trial over a jury trial.
In the documentary, viewers see how Shirilla's defense team opts for a bench trial, in which a judge decides the defendant's fate rather than a jury.
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Mackenzie Shirilla opted not to have a jury trial -Credit:mackenzieshirilla/Instagram
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror US, two legal experts explained why Shirilla may have chosen to forgo a jury at her double-murder trial.
Deborah Blum, Counsel to The Law Offices of Alan Ellis in New York, explained that it could have depended on who the judge herself was.
"If it's a favorable, pro-defense judge, then you heavily consider advising your client to waive their right to a jury trial and go with a bench trial," Blum told us.
However, she also noted that the case's "notoriety" could've played a part in the decision, as she said, "In a case like this, where there's extreme notoriety, the potential jurors have already formed a preconceived notion about the case, whereas a pro-defense judge will stay focused on whether the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt and the law."
All that was left of Mackenzie Shirilla's car after she drove into a brick building -Credit:WKYC3
Nora Demleitner, Immediate Past President at St. John's College, echoed the fellow legal expert's sentiments.
"Defendants may choose judge trials in cases that are highly inflammatory and where they fear that the jury would react against them because of how gruesome the facts/allegations are," Demleitner remarked. "So the hope is that the judge will look at a case with greater objectivity and be less emotionally impacted."
However, Demleitner explained that other types of crimes may lead the defense to choose a bench trial, as the former law school dean concluded, "Defendants choose bench trials sometimes in difficult white-collar prosecutions where they may have more confidence in the judge to see the case has no merit."
It comes after President Trump was seen swaying in an alarming new video amid health concerns.
The Crash is now available to stream on Netflix.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
