Judge gives jury an extra day to decide verdict in trial of Skinny Joey Merlino
Jurors at the Manhattan racketeering trial of reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino revealed they were deadlocked Thursday, but the judge said he’d keep them deliberating at least another day.
The jury foreperson sent out a note at 3:55 p.m. that read, “We the jury are unable to come to an unanimously (sic) decision on the four counts.”
Before summoning the panel, federal Judge Richard Sullivan told both sides that he wasn’t ready to declare a hung jury after little more than a day of deliberation.
“This was a two-ish-week trial. There were long days that were pretty dense. This has not been an inordinate amount of time to be deliberating,” he said.
Sullivan also said he would consider delivering an “Allen charge” — stern instructions intended to avoid a mistrial — if the jury sent out a similar note “at this point tomorrow.”
As the jury entered the courtroom, several members shuffled their feet and had weary expressions on their faces, then scowled as the judge told them: “Go until 5:30 and then pick up again tomorrow.”
“Sometimes a fresh start helps. Don’t stress about it. This is what deliberation is,” he added.
Merlino is one of three reputed mobsters accused by the feds of running a sprawling, cross-crime-family racket that operated between Springfield, Mass., and South Florida, where Merlino moved following his release from prison in 2011.
He served a 14-year sentence for racketeering, extortion and illegal gambling, but beat three murder raps that could have sent him away for life.
https://nypost.com/2018/02/15/judge-gives-deadlocked-jury-another-day-to-decide-fate-of-reputed-mob-boss/
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