In a blow for federal prosecutors, a federal judge said today that she intended to declare a mistrial on almost all counts against former lobbyist Kevin Ring, according to a court official.
After more than seven days of deliberations, jurors in the case this morning delivered a note to U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the District of Columbia explaining that they were still deadlocked on seven of eight counts. It was the third day in a row that jurors had reported an impasse. Previously, the judge had ordered them to continue deliberating.
The jurors also reported that they had become deadlocked on an eighth count against Ring, for which they previously reached a verdict. The judge ordered them to continue deliberating on that one count.
Ring, a former associate of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, is accused of corrupting public officials and their staffs with free drinks, meals, trips and tickets to sports events and concerts. The final charge the jurors are deliberating relates to a $5,000 payment to the wife of former Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.).
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