Pellicano Trial: Confusing Jury Deliberations

The latest update from the Pellicano jury room is that the jury deliberations are proving to be as confusing as the actual case. The jury has come back with at least one question every day since they started deliberating. Some of the questions from the other day seemed to indicate that perhaps the government might be in trouble, but then the questions from yesterday and today, might be interpreted the opposite way. So, based on the jury's questions, it's still risky at this point to predict any type of verdict or whether they'll reach a verdict at all. It does seem that they're confused about the different elements of different counts--which could mean that they're considering those particular charges at this time. Or, they could be considering the various charges out of order. Basically, expert trial watchers as well as some of those involved in the case aren't even close to drawing any conclusions.

Specifically, the jury has asked for some clarification on jury instructions relating to Mark Arneson which touched off an argument between the defense and the prosecution as to how to respond. The jury sent out a note to the judge wondering if they could have additional clarification on what intent is required on charges of honest services wire fraud. After argument, the judge told the jury that they couldn't have any additional clarification. There was also a note on the identity theft charges and whether they each had to affect interstate commerce. The question from the jury was basically "does each alleged act for purposes of RICO have to affect interstate commerce?" The answer from the judge, "with respect to each alleged RICO act charging identify theft, the possession, transfer or use had to affect interstate commerce." There was an additional request this morning as to whether the jury could have an example of a RQH code run and the court said no.

I will post as soon as I know anything more...as in whether the jury might be close to reaching a verdict. STAY TUNED.

Read all the coverage from inside the Pellicano courtroom.