NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Still not reaching a verdict, the jury went home Wednesday in the federal corruption trial involving former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his chief of staff Cade Cothren.
So far, the jury has been deliberating for about 13 hours. They'll return to the Fred Thompson Federal Courthouse Thursday morning to continue their discussion.
It's been a 'trial of waiting'
This whole ordeal has spanned several years. It's been four years since the FBI raided the defendant's homes and their offices on Tennessee's Capitol Hill. It's been nearly three years since the former speaker and his former chief of staff were indicted on fraud, money laundering, bribery and conspiracy charges.
It's been 17 days since jury selection and opening arguments began, detailing how Casada and Cothren created a company, Phoenix Solutions, using a fake name, Matthew Phoenix, to obtain postage and printing contracts from state lawmakers using state tax dollars.
The defense argued, from the outside, that this was a perfectly legal company and the secrecy and fake name was just because of a tarnished reputation, but doesn't indicate fraud.
The trial itself has also been time-consuming. The star witness was on the stand for three days straight. Former Rep. Robin Smith, who took a plea deal and was the third member of the alleged scheme, said that she and Casada abused their power as legislators to pressure state officials into accepting their company as a vendor.
There was also a mistrial scare, which ate up days of the trial and kept the jury out of the courtroom.
Jury question
On Tuesday, just hours into deliberation, the jury asked the judge to provide a definition to what "material evidence" means. Ultimately, the judge decided Wednesday to not give the jury a legal definition, opting instead ot have the jury use their best judgment.
Judge Eli Richardson decided providing a legal definition might give an unfair advantage to the prosecution.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
Music lessons for just 50 cents! A Nashville music school has been providing that to area students for over 40 years including for the city's current mayor. As a child, I always wanted to take piano lessons. I was able to for about 6 months but had to stop due to family finances. I would have loved to have had access to a program like this at the W. O. Smith Music School.
- Lelan Statom
