Deliberations Adjourned At Trial Of Ex-NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver For Holiday Break
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Jurors in the federal corruption trial of former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have adjourned deliberations for the long holiday weekend.
"Case is in the hands of the jury and they'll be back Monday. I hope everybody has a nice Thanksgiving and I hope the jury has a nice Thanksgiving," Silver said.
U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni had urged the Manhattan jury on Wednesday morning to continue to try to reach a verdict. Her instructions came a day after one of the jurors claimed in a note that she was being bullied by other jurors.
"I'm feeling pressured, stressed out," the juror wrote in a note to the judge as she asked to be excused from further deliberations, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
In her note, the juror said she had a different opinion and view than other jurors "and it is making me feel very, very uncomfortable."
Other jurors, she said, were telling her she was not using her common sense.
"My heart is pounding and my head feels weird," she said. "I am so stressed out right now that I can't even write normally. I don't feel like I can be myself right now! I need to leave!"
After a prosecutor recommended she be released as a juror, the judge said it was too early to do so and said she would urge jurors to respectfully exchange views.
The judge also denied a request by the complaining juror to meet with her privately.
When asked if he thought the distressed juror might be the only one who thinks he's innocent, Silver said she may be the only one who wants to vote guilty, Diamond reported.
Prosecutors accuse Silver of abusing his office for years. They say he collected millions of dollars in kickbacks for favors provided to a cancer researcher and real estate developers.
The defense countered that the once-powerful Democrat did not commit a crime.
Silver resigned his leadership post after his January arrest but held onto his Assembly seat.
Deliberations will resume on Monday.
The jury must decide unanimously whether to convict or acquit Silver on the seven charges that he faces. If convicted, he faces up to 130 years in prison.
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