The correct answer is that jury deliberated so long.
Atticus lost the trial but he actually helped move the town to the road of racial equality. In cases where a black man was accused of violating a white women there was almost no deliberation at all.The victory here was that Atticus managed to make the jurors actually try to do the right thing and acquit Tom because he was innocent. One juror in particular held out long and that was Cunningham.
