"Rezko Jurors Split On One Count."
OK, I'm not a lawyer.
By Moe Lane Posted in Law | Tony Rezko — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
What does this signify?
Rezko jury locked on one count
By Joseph RyanThe jury deliberating the fate of former state political powerbroker Antoin "Tony" Rezko sent the judge a note today stating it "cannot decide on one count" of the 24 charges filed.
Judge Amy St. Eve responded by reading a standard legal document addressing such situations saying, "you should make every reasonable effort to reach a verdict" on each individual count. She said each individual count must have a unanimous verdict.
She urged jurors to go back into deliberations and give "fair and equal consideration to the facts of the trial."
Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft writes that this suggests that the other 23 counts have been resolved. Assuming that's so: is this holdup more indicative of an otherwise guilty verdict, an otherwise innocent verdict, or a mix; and how much longer are they likely to be out?
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"Rezko Jurors Split On One Count." 5 Comments (0 topical, 5 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
it mostly means a careful jury, as they clearly have reached a decision one way or another on each of the other 23. Most likely it means we'll have a verdict within 48 hours.
I worked on a case where the jury went home for a 3-day weekend after announcing they'd reached a verdict on the charges against our client but hadn't resolved the charges against his co-defendant. Needless to say, our guy had to sweat bullets all weekend. Eventually they acquitted both on all counts, but the note and the delay indicated that they were taking their time to be sure on each individual count.
Your guess is as good as anyone's as to whether this means a conviction, acquittal or split decision (jurors aren't lawyers, and any lawyer who claims certainty in predicting their behavior is talking out his rear - they're just a not-entirely-random sampling of the public, the thought processes of which can vary widely).
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
I don't think you could really infer anything from this. In my experience, trying to accurately predict the behavior of juries is generally a fool's errand. To answer your question, if the jury hangs on one count, then the verdict will stand on the other 23, and it will be up to the prosecutors as to whether or not to retry Mr. Rezko on the remaining charge. Given that is one count out of 24, my guess would be that the prosecutors would not choose to retry, unless that one count was the main thrust of the indictment.
If he had been found guilty on the other 23 they might just punt the last one.
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-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
I agree it sounds like the jury has found him innocent on other counts
Does this mean much? Is it common to split on 1 charge out of 24? If they can't decide this charge, will the whole case need to be retried or will they accept the verdict on the other 23 and leave it to the prosecutor to retry the other charge?
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