Day 14 jury deliberations over in Kilpatrick trial

Jury deliberations will continue Monday in trial against former Detroit mayor

Empty jury chairs (WDIV, ClickOnDetroit.com)

DETROIT – It looks like there will be more deliberating come Monday morning in the Kwame Kilpatrick federal corruption trial at the US District Court in downtown Detroit. Day 14 of jury deliberations has ended without a verdict.

With every passing day of deliberations, tensions mount as expectations of a verdict increase and the court was abuzz today with the possibility of a verdict before the weekend.

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But it was not to be.

The goings-on in the jury room mostly remain a mystery to trial observers. We do know that five jurors -- three women and two men -- go down to the garage twice daily for smoke breaks. We also know that they have their lunches catered in daily, typically between 12pm and 1pm, from local delis and that they have a predilection for orange Fanta drinks.

And by all accounts, the jurors seem to get along very well. On the last day of trial when Judge Nancy Edmunds dismissed the 4 alternate jurors, the jury requested one last lunch together as a group of 16 before deliberations officially began. The four alternates have also requested to be present in the courtroom when the verdict is finally handed down.

But aside for requests for exhibits, there has been little communication from inside the jury room. In 14 days, they have asked only two questions which related to technical clarification on extortion counts.

So in terms of what the jurors are thinking, how deliberations are proceeding and how close or far they are to reaching a verdict, we can only speculate.

The three defendants in this case are charged with running a criminal enterprise through the mayor's office to enrich themselves. Jurors are deliberating a verdict on charges that include racketeering, extortion, bribery, mail and wire fraud, attempted extortion and filing false taxes.

Kwame Kilpatrick is facing 30 counts, Bobby Ferguson 11 and Bernard Kilpatrick 4.

Jurors will return to the courthouse Monday morning to begin day 15 of deliberations at 9 a.m.