NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After 21 hours of deliberation, the jury in the federal corruption trial involving Glen Casada and Cade Cothren still hasn't reached a verdict. The panel began discussions Tuesday afternoon.
Many of you may be wondering: What's taking so long? We asked longtime Nashville attorney David Raybin to weigh in.
"Given the length of the deliberation, this a recipe for a potential hung jury on some or all of the charges against one or both of the defendants," said Raybin.
Raybin is not involved in this case, but has tried several federal cases and knows the law well. He said it's safe to infer at this point that the jury is stuck on something. So what could happen next? Raybin said the jury could work out their differences and get to a unanimous verdict on the various 19 counts. They could tell the jury there's nothing they can all agree on and a mistrial is declared.
Raybin thinks a third option could be the most likely scenario — a partial verdict.
"The judge may say, have you reached a verdict on any count as to any defendant?" explained Raybin.
Of course, we don't know what the jury is specifically discussing, but questions that the jury asked the court during their deliberation process can give us some insight into their line of thinking. On Thursday, the jury asked the judge how to apply a Good Faith Defense.
"Simply saying, 'Well I didn’t know it wasn’t illegal, that’s not going to fly," Raybin said. "But saying I didn’t know what I was doing violated this particular technical statute, and I was acting in good faith. That’s a defense. And the jury may find credence with that."
The jury will begin deliberating again Friday morning.
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Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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