Long deliberations aren’t unusual for trials like this, expert sayspublished at 13:12 BST
13:12 BST
Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter
While long deliberations may add complications, they’re not entirely unusual, former federal prosecutor Mark Chutkow tells me.
“Six days of jury deliberation after a six-week trial with complex mental health issues is not unusual,” he told me on Thursday.
What is interesting, according to Chutkow, is the defence’s adamant request to remove the juror who was seemingly holding up proceedings.
As a reminder, the jury sent a note to the judge yesterday that one of 12 members was not properly following the judge’s instructions. Clancy’s lawyer asked to remove that person, which the judge denied.
It “suggests that the attorneys for both sides might think that the holdout juror is the only one favoring conviction and the rest of the jurors favor acquittal”, Chutkow tells me.
That may or may not be the case, Chutkow adds, noting that the defence may have filed that motion looking ahead to an appeal.