Blagojevich Jurors Deliberate Another Day With No Verdict
Updated 06/20/11 - 4:11 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The jury in Rod Blagojevich's corruption retrial wrapped up another day of deliberations on Monday without reaching a verdict.
It was the sixth day of work for the 11 men and one man considering the 20 various charges against the former governor. They wrapped up their day around 4 p.m. without any word on their progress.
The jury hasn't been heard from since Thursday afternoon, when they asked the judge for clarification about a key instruction tied to the 10 wire fraud charges against Blagojevich.
The jury wanted the judge to clear up one of the four things that the prosecution must prove in order for the jury to convict him of wire fraud.
They specifically asked about the third element of wire fraud contained in their instructions, which says "that the scheme to defraud involved a materially false and fraudulent pretense, representation, promise, or concealment."
After a brief conference with prosecutors and defense attorneys, U.S. District Judge James Zagel decided to send the jury a note telling them to re-read the instructions and, if needed, send back another note specifying which part of the instruction they found confusing.
Jurors have not been heard from again since that note on Thursday. They will return for a seventh day of deliberations on Tuesday.
Blagojevich is facing 20 criminal charges at his corruption retrial, including the 10 wire fraud counts and various other extortion and bribery counts. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
At his first trial, the jury deliberated for 14 days before deadlocking on 23 of 24 counts against Blagojevich, agreeing only on a conviction for lying to the FBI.
--Todd Feurer, CBS 2 Web Producer
