Manafort Jury Works Again After Query on One Count: Trial Update
Manafort Jury Starts Again After Taking Extra Time
(Bloomberg) -- Jurors in the Paul Manafort fraud trial seem to be closer to a verdict, asking what to do if they aren’t in agreement on one of the 18 counts. The phrasing of the question raises the possibility that they could be in agreement on the others -- though what they agree on is unknown, of course. The case is the first trial for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and jurors are reviewing 388 documents and the testimony of 27 witnesses. Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, is accused of bank and tax fraud in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.
Back in Deliberations (12:00 p.m.)
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III urged the jurors to give a fresh look at the evidence and try to reach a consensus on all of the counts.
“Listen to each other,” Ellis said, but “don’t surrender your honest convictions.”
They’ll get lunch shortly, and it’s unclear if they’ll deliberate through the meal or resume afterwards.
“Take all the time which you feel is necessary,” Ellis said.
Single Count (11:44 a.m.)
“Your Honor, if we cannot come to a consensus on a single count, how should we fill in the jury verdict form for that count, and what does it mean for the final verdict?” the jurors asked in their note. “We will need another form, please.”
Another Question to Judge (11:07 a.m.)
After about an hour and a half of deliberations, jurors sent a note to Ellis, briefly sending reporters scrambling to learn whether they were informing him they’d reached a verdict. Instead, the note contained another question to the judge, CNN later reported. The nature of the query wasn’t immediately clear.
Jurors Return After Lengthy Day on Monday (9:35 a.m.)
The panel asked no questions during extended deliberations on Monday, fueling speculation that a verdict was close.
--With assistance from Laura Curtis.
To contact the reporters on this story: David Voreacos in Alexandria, Virginia at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net;Andrew Harris in Alexandria, Virginia at aharris16@bloomberg.net;Neil Weinberg in Alexandria, Virginia at nweinberg2@bloomberg.net;Daniel Flatley in Alexandria, Virginia at dflatley1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey D Grocott at jgrocott2@bloomberg.net, David Glovin
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