Features
Spector Jury Hung?
“At this time I don’t believe that anything else will change the positions of the jurors,” the foreman said when Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler asked if there was anything he could do to help.
Polled individually, some jurors agreed with the foreman and others disagreed. One suggested further instruction about reasonable doubt.
The judge then sent the jury back into the jury room to discuss the situation with lawyers, saying he intended to send the jurors home for the day.
The defense immediately asked for a mistrial but the judge denied it on grounds that three jurors indicated that further instructions may help.
Spector is charged with second-degree murder, and the judge previously ruled that the panel would only decide that charge and not consider possible lesser charges such as manslaughter.
The judge, however, told the attorneys that he was reconsidering and believed he might have cause to instruct the jury to consider a lesser charge.