“We recognize the weight of this admission and the implications it holds.”

Reaction

“Wow,” retired Superior Court Judge Jack Lu told the Herald right after the warning was read. “If they ‘hang’ it is astounding that they have ‘hung’ so quickly.”

Lu said Cannone is “handling this flawlessly” and that “the note is extraordinary, if not unprecedented, in how the jury expresses its understanding of its sacred duty.”

“This note does support the giving of Tuey-Rodriguez because it shows that the jury is conscientious and devoted to the integrity of the process,” Lu added.

Prosecutor Adam Lally argued against issuing the warning when the note was first delivered.

“While I understand that (jurors) have been at this for a while, I would submit that they have not” come to a due and thorough deliberation, “and I would ask that the court not make such a finding.”

“They really haven’t even had one hour of deliberations equivalent to each of the days of testimony they have heard,” Lally continued, noting they had deliberated for 22 or 23 hours and had heard 29 days of testimony. “I would submit that the evidence and testimony of witnesses and the complexity of the issues in this case, I would submit they have not done a thorough deliberation up to this point.”

Defense attorney David Yannetti welcomed the warning.

“They’ve come back twice now indicating essentially that they’re hopelessly deadlocked,” he said. “They have been over all of the evidence. … This time they say they have ‘fundamental’ disagreements about what the evidence means. And it’s a matter of opinion, it’s not a matter of lack of understanding.

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