After Two Re-Starts, Jury Deliberations Resume In Ligambi Organized Crime Trial
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A federal jury continues deliberations, after two re-starts, in the trial of alleged mob boss Joseph Ligambi and six other alleged mobsters and associates.
Jury deliberations, which began two weeks ago, have not gone smoothly. Two jurors have been removed, one for illness, the other because the juror reportedly knew a witness and reported it during deliberations. Each time the jury had to start over.
READ: Complete coverage of the Joseph Ligambi trial.
And some questions from the jury have raised eyebrows. The government was concerned at one point jurors were 'wandering in the desert.'
Ligambi's attorney, Edwin Jacobs, had a different take. "They are not in a desert at all, they are in a jury room and they are not wandering, they are guided by 150 pages of carefully worded, written instructions and another 40 pages of jury verdict forms."
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges they took part in illegal gambling and loan sharking and other offenses.
