Jury Deciding Fate of John Wiley Price Is Deadlocked

Near the close of their fifth day of deliberations, the federal jury that is deciding whether John Wiley Price is a crook informed the judge they were unable to agree on some of the counts against the commissioner or his top aide.U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn on Tuesday sent the jury of 10 women and two men home early around 3:30 p.m. to "refresh" and asked them to resume their attempts to find a consensus on Wednesday morning. If they still cannot agree, Lynn could ask the jury to continue for a few more days.Or she could declare mistrials on the counts that the jury can't agree on. And then, the government would have to decide whether or not to retry the defendants on those charges. The development could signal trouble for the government's case, presented to the jury over eight weeks. Even Lynn expressed doubts about six mail fraud charges in the indictment after hearing all of the evidence. She indicated she is likely to throw them out even if the jury votes to convict on those counts.Lynn did not say which criminal counts the jury can't agree on or whether it involves Price or his co-defendant, Dapheny Fain. There are a number of scenarios. The jury could be deadlocked on just one count or most of them. Or they could have reached a decision on all of Price's charges but not Fain's, or vice versa.They could be evenly split or there could be one deadlocked juror."Watch some mindless television...and take a few deep breaths," Lynn told the deadlocked jurors.Price, one of North Texas' most powerful politicians who's been in office since 1985, is charged with 11 counts that include bribery, mail fraud and tax evasion. Fain is charged with two counts: lying to the FBI and conspiracy to defraud the IRS.The jury includes three African Americans.Marlo Cadeddu, one of Fain's attorneys, asked Lynn if she could say whether the jury is deadlocked on either of the counts against her client.Lynn declined to say, after prosecutors objected.Price left the courtroom smiling, without commenting.The jury has only once submitted questions about the case during its deliberations. The questions will be released publicly after the trial.Before closing arguments, Lynn said prosecutors did not make a good case that the alleged conspirators used the U.S. mail as part of their crimes. A third defendant, Kathy Nealy, is awaiting her own trial in connection with the alleged bribery scheme. Nealy, a former lobbyist and close associate of Price's, is accused of paying the commissioner almost $1 million in bribes from 2001 to 2011 in the form of cash, vehicles and land.Prosecutors showed evidence during the trial that Price leaked confidential county bid documents to Nealy to help her clients with contracts and other approvals. They used banking records to show that Nealy made cash and check payments to Price around the time of his votes and other official actions.But Price's attorneys said Nealy was repaying the commissioner for loans he gave her.  Continue reading...