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Mr. Hamdan's job with the al Qaeda leader principally involved driving Mr. bin Laden and other al Qaeda figures around Afghanistan. At times he also carried weapons and radios.

Captured in November 2001 by Afghan militiamen under U.S. command, Mr. Hamdan initially offered evasive and deceptive answers. He soon became cooperative and provided information to U.S. interrogators about the al Qaeda organization.

The military prosecution team put on a slew of witnesses including some of its top counterterrorism agents, mockups of surface-to-air missiles it said were found in Mr. Hamdan's car and video of his initial interrogations in 2001.

Jurors were barely, if at all, aware of the case's historic background, the juror said. The five men and one woman were selected from a 13 member juror pool on July 21 after questioning by prosecution and defense attorneys. A Navy captain, the one African American on the panel, was foreman; other members included two colonels and three lieutenant colonels from the Air Force, Army and Marine Corps.

The juror said that after years of contentious debate over detainee treatment it was good to finally see prisoners handled through "an organized process" rather than "an indiscriminate way." Still, the juror said, it was necessary to keep feelings about 9/11 and other al Qaeda attacks from interfering with their judgment. "I think we all had to reconcile that before we got on the plane" to Guantanamo," the juror said.

From opening statement to sentencing argument, both the prosecution and defense were "very aggressive," the juror said. Each side played the part jurors expected. "The defense would say the accused made the mistake of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," while "the prosecutors would give the image of him being a hardened terrorist."

In accepting the defense's depiction, "it came down to the evidence that we were allowed to see," the juror said. No evidence suggested Mr. Hamdan had any role in planning or organizing any terror attacks. Aside from the evidence, the juror said, Mr. Hamdan's demeanor in court made an impression.

"He looked very mild mannered," the juror said of the defendant, who wore traditional Yemeni dress under a blazer.

Before the jury began considering the sentence, Mr. Hamdan made an unsworn statement where he apologized to any who were harmed by his acts. Perhaps that was an effort to manipulate the jury, the juror said, but even more significant was what Mr. Hamdan did after the sentence was announced: He stood and apologized again, and thanked the jury and judge.

"I thought it was unusual considering the crimes he was accused of. I know there are people who hate people or entities," and Mr. Hamdan didn't act like one, the juror said. "The reality is: he didn't have to get up at all. He could have just sat there."

Prosecutor John Murphy, an assistant U.S. attorney from Louisiana, sought to equate Mr. Hamdan with Mr. bin Laden's most horrible deeds. "The penalty should be so significant that it forecloses any possibility that he renews his ties with terrorism," Mr. Murphy said.

The jury didn't accept the premise. Mr. Hamdan may have been guilty, but "where was his act along the spectrum" of things one could do in support of terrorism? The evidence suggested it was toward the less significant end, the juror said. The prosecution's argument was unacceptable "unless you can say, 'We should have hanged him.' Are you going to make that same statement of every individual" the U.S. captures? the juror said. American principles call for treating even enemies justly, the juror said, "just as we adhere to the Geneva Convention and we try to set the standards with the sanctity of human rights."

The Bush administration maintains it can hold prisoners classified as unlawful enemy combatants, such as Mr. Hamdan, indefinitely. Under this policy, Mr. Hamdan will not necessarily be released when his sentence is up in five months; rather, the government will have the option of continuing to imprison him on grounds that he remains a threat.

The juror seemed surprised to hear this, but said that continuing to hold Mr. Hamdan past his sentence was acceptable if officials so concluded. "You have to trust the government to a certain degree," the juror said. "I would take their word for it, because, yes, I do believe in the government."

Mr. Hamdan's sentence will be up in January, the same month that Mr. Bush leaves office, and some trial observers wondered if the jury intended any message by selecting that date. The juror seemed amused, saying of the panel's work, "People probably are trying to read too much into it."

Write to Jess Bravin at jess.bravin@wsj.com¹

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