Potential Problem In Jury Room During Fattah Trial
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - There was an apparent problem in the jury room during the first full day of deliberations in the more than month-long racketeering conspiracy trial of Congressman Chaka Fattah and four others.
This jury had only deliberated a total of about four hours, when something unraveled.
After their lunch-break Thursday, the team of prosecutors and all defense lawyers spent the entire rest of the afternoon in Federal Court Judge Harvey Bartle's chambers, in private conversations. Neither the judge nor lawyers said anything when they returned to their counsel tables in the courtroom.
Then, three alternate jurors, followed by the twelve members of the jury were escorted out into the courtroom and the judge told them to adjourn, and return in the morning.
None of the lawyers spoke in the hallways or on the elevators down to the sidewalk, as observers in the gallery, including friends and family of the defendants, and curious onlookers, peppered reporters with questions, speculating about the apparent juror issue.
Fattah and the others are named in a 29-count indictment, which includes racketeering conspiracy, money laundering and fraud charges.