Stevens Verdict Pushed Closer to Election

[tekisui]

http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6104578&page=1

Deliberations in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens came to a sudden halt this morning, pushing a possible verdict in the case closer to Election Day.

The father of a female juror, identified only as juror No. 4, died suddenly and she is on her way to California to be with family. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan delayed the trial until next week to accommodate the missing juror and to allow time to determine the next step in the case.

Sullivan could put deliberations on hold until the juror returns to Washington or allow an alternate to step in, which would require jurors to go back to square one with their deliberations.

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[tekisui]

1. I think this helps Begich.

If they reached mistrial of hung jury this week, Stevens could possibly win. If the case goes on right up until the election, I think Begich has the upper hand.

[KharmaTrain]

2. This Trial Is A Mess...

I wouldn't be surprised if we get either a hung jury or mistrial out of this thing. Having been on a jury, I can't see how one can walk away from all the testimony for nearly a week without having to restart from the beginnning...and then there's the temperment of the people in the room. A report was that there is a disruptive juror who is making this process a real pain...this person could also drop out and another alternate brought in. In short, this case could easily drag on for another week or longer, and then with all this disruption there are tons of grounds for the defense to call for a mistrial and/or appeal.