ON UPDATE: Judge Ellis said he "will not ask for a partial verdict at this time."

[pnwmom]

That implies he could.

That implies he could get a verdict of guilty or innocent on some of the counts.

That implies that the use of the word "single" before meant there was only one count that has been holding up the jury.

Agreed?

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Shimon Prokupecz
✔
@ShimonPro

Judge sends jury back to deliberate at 1158a, says he won't issue new verdict form.

The judge said he will not ask the jury for a partial verdict at this time. They must continue their work, he told the court.
9:03 AM - Aug 21, 2018

The jury asked in a note: "If we cannot come to a consensus for a single count, how can we fill in the verdict sheet?"

The jury note also said they needed a new verdict sheet, and they asked what not coming to a conclusion would mean for the "final verdict."
8:37 AM - Aug 21, 2018

ON UPDATE: Another observer reported a longer version of the original question, which seems to make it clear that the problem in reaching a verdict only affects one count:

Link to tweet

Rosalind Helderman
✔
@PostRoz

Manafort jury's full question makes clear that they are having trouble coming to agreement on one count: ""Your honor, if we cannot come to a consensus on a single count, how should we fill in the jury verdict form *for that count*?"
9:19 AM - Aug 21, 2018

[berni_mccoy]

1. We will have a verdict today. He's not going to send them back for deliberation on one count

After today.

[pnwmom]

8. That would be my guess, too. nt

[beachbum bob]

9. Yes he could and he could even sequester the jury until final verdict is

reached. The judge sets the rules and will wait it out. Worse case is a 6-6 split on final charge, could take a while

[berni_mccoy]

14. Wrong. A judge who uses sequestration to coerce a verdict will get the verdict overturned

A judge cannot coerce a jury to reach a verdict. This is decided appeal law.

[beachbum bob]

18. Not really.

[marylandblue]

12. I am inclined to think they will decide today also.

If they are hung on just one count, do they really want to come back tomorrow just to continue arguing?

[GusBob]

2. So its all or nothing?

If they don't come to complete agreement on one count, he could walk on all counts?

I am confused, clearly

[pnwmom]

3. No. They could hang on a count(s) and still arrive at a verdict on others.

The judge is not ready to have that happen YET.

[brooklynite]

5. No - it means the verdict could be read on all decided charges

Any charges unresolved could be separated for a follow-up trial in the Prosecutor decided to refile.

[berni_mccoy]

6. Not at all. Judge said he's not going to do it "at this time".

If the jury can’t come to a decision on one count, you can hang on one count and get a partial verdict. The judge will do that to avoid overturn on appeal. He won’t send the jury back more than twice to avoid an overturn as well.

[marylandblue]

7. Partial verdict means they decided on some counts, hung on others

Happens a lot on complex cases with multiple counts.

[Hortensis]

15. He could have had 18 trials, each on one count,

but they did one trial which would decide guilt or innocence on 18 individual counts. If he were found guilty on 1 count, innocent on 16, and one hung, the prosecution would have to decide whether to retry on the hung count.

BUT, Cohen is reportedly in talks about a possible plea deal. Guessing his team don't like what this is saying about his chances.

[beachbum bob]

4. The judge will let this go another day. How ever the jury is split for

The final count, unless it's 6-6, expect movement to the majority position. I have seen this myself where we were 10-2 for acquittal and after 12 hours of deadlock, we ere sequestered for the night and went back the next day and judge was clear, he will not accept a hung jury. Period. Took 4 more hours to get the 2 no votes to switch.

[pnwmom]

10. Even with 18 counts? If they spent all day just debating a single count (and maybe longer)

I could see the judge ending it today.

[beachbum bob]

11. Judges like clean verdicts, no hanging chads..

Besides, the judge has all the time in the world. He has zero pressure on him

[herding cats]

16. It's not uncommon to instruct the jury to work it out.

Each count is generally viewed as equally important and should all be settled when possible.

Sometimes juries just get tired and want it to be over. If they've worked well together a judge isn't as likely to let them quit if there's a chance of resolution on all of the charges.

[eleny]

13. It sounds like he feels the jury has worked well together

And he's giving them the chance to find consensus on all counts.

Given how many counts they have had to deliberate, asking them to try to arrive at consensus on this last one seems like a decent decision on his part.

[Sneederbunk]

17. Judge is following SOP.

[marylandblue]

19. Yes, he supposed to tell them to keep trying

If they come back and say it's hopeless, he may ask them to try yet again, but this judge is so impatient, I bet he won't.

[Recursion]

20. No need to rush it

If the jury can reach 18 unanimous verdicts, give them the time to do so

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. Am I right in my understanding that there can be a different verdict on each count?

But that each verdict needs to be unanimous?

[pnwmom]

22. Yes. Either of the 18 decisions needs to be unanimous.

And a particular count might end up with a hung jury, but the others, guilty or innocent, can be made final anyway.