Dec 10, 2007 6:15 pm US/Eastern
Day 6: No Verdict In "Liberty City 7" Trial
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A Miami jury has continued wrestling with the guilt or innocence of seven men accused of plotting terror attacks as the 6th day of deliberations in the "Liberty City 7" trial resumes. On Monday jurors said they were still deadlocked, but U.S District Judge Joan Leonard ordered the panel to continue deliberating.
For the second time in several days the jury has sent out a note telling the judge "we give up, we want to go home. The judge told them no and to give it a college try one more time after more than 2 month of trial, and more than a week of deliberation.
''It is your duty to agree upon a verdict if you can do so,'' Lenard told the jury of six men and six women. "This is an important case, the trial has been expensive in time, effort, money and emotional strain to both the defense and prosecution. There is no reason to believe the case could ever be submitted to twelve men and women more conscientious, more impartial or more competent to decide it (than you)."
Last Thursday, the jury indicated they were deadlocked but the judge ordered the anonymous, ethnically mixed panel of six men and six women to continue deliberations which they did on Friday.
They did not send any notes or requests to the judge or attorneys but still went home for the weekend without a verdict.
That could mean they are working out their differences and nearing compromise verdicts for alleged ringleader Narseal Batiste and his six co-defendants. They are accused of conspiring to topple Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI buildings, or it could mean they are even farther away from any agreement, which could eventually force U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard to declare a mistrial.
During closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Arango told jurors the so-called "Liberty City Seven" were part of a homegrown terrorism cell seeking alliance with al Qaeda by staging bomb attacks on Chicago's Sears Tower and several federal buildings around the country including the FBI Headquarters building in Miami. She also said the ultimate aim of leader Narseal Batiste and his "soldiers" was to use the attacks to spark a broader insurrection -- even freeing prisoners to become guerrilla fighters -- that would topple the U.S. government.
Batiste testified that he invented a fake plot to destroy the Sears Tower in order to con money out of a man who claimed al Qaeda finance connections. That man was actually a paid FBI informant.
Batiste and his 6 co-defendants face up to 70 years in prison each if convicted.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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