Allen Stanford Ponzi Scheme

[scion]

Judge tells Stanford jurors to keep at it

http://blog.chron.com/stanford/2012/03/judge-tells-stanford-jurors-to-keep-at-it/


A federal judge late Monday told jurors in the R. Allen Stanford fraud case to keep deliberating after the panel sent him a note saying they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on all 14 counts against the Texas financier.

The note, which did not detail which of the charges against Stanford were giving them difficulty, came at 4:30 p.m. Monday, the jury’s third complete day of deliberation.

After discussing the note with prosecutors and defense attorneys, U.S. District Judge David Hittner called the jurors in to read them a set of instructions called an “Allen Charge,” which explains why jurors who report being deadlocked should keep deliberating.

“This trial has been expensive in time, effort, money and emotional strain to both the defense and the prosecution,” Hittner told the jurors. “If you should fail to agree upon a verdict, the case will be left open and may have to be tried again.”

“Any future jury,” he said, “must be selected in the same manner and from the same source as you were chosen, and there is no reason to believe that the case could ever be submitted to 12 men and women more conscientious, more impartial or more competent to decide it, or that more or clearer evidence could be produced.”

The jury then adjourned until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The news of the possible deadlock on some or even all of the counts against Stanford, accused of masterminding a $7 billion investment fraud through his offshore bank in Antigua, appeared to cheer him.

Before Hittner called in the jurors, Stanford, 61, looked at their note, smiled and gave a thumbs up to family members in the courtroom.

It was the jury’s third note of the day. The first two, just before noon, asked questions about evidence.

The first sought a definition of a financial term that appeared in documents but wasn’t discussed in testimony during the trial, which began Jan. 23.

The second involved testimony about Antiguan rules limiting gifts to the Caribbean nation’s bank regulators. The indictment against Stanford includes allegations that Antiguan regulator Leroy King, one of four co- defendants to be tried later, received bribes including Super Bowl tickets in exchange for favorable treatment of Stanford’s bank.

Defining a word

The jury sent notes last week requesting a dictionary and seeking a definition of “scheme” as used in the indictment – even though the term was spelled out in Hittner’s 44 pages of jury instructions. He denied the request for a dictionary and provided a simple definition of “scheme” after conferring with lawyers for both sides.

Stanford family members in the courtroom on Monday included his mother, father, stepmother, two daughters, a half-sister and a niece.

‘Good news, I think’

At one point before the jury came in, Stanford appeared to be praying at the defense table.

Stanford’s mother, Sammie Stanford, said she was encouraged by the jury’s lengthy and perhaps contentious deliberations.

“It’s good news, I think,” she said. “They’re very attentive. They took notes.”

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http://blog.chron.com/stanford/2012/03/judge-tells-stanford-jurors-to-keep-at-it/