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Jury Is Deadlocked in Corruption Trial of Ex-Jail Officers’ Union Chief Divided Jury to Keep Deliberating in Case of Ex-Jail Officers’ Union Chief
(about 4 hours later)
Jurors in the trial of Norman Seabrook, the former head of the city’s correction officers’ union, told a judge on Tuesday that they were deadlocked, a possible sign of the polarizing nature of the government’s key witness. The jurors deciding the fate of Norman Seabrook, the former head of the city’s correction officers’ union, will be back deliberating on Wednesday, a day after they told the judge in the federal corruption case that they were deadlocked.
The jury’s note to Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. came just before noon on the fourth day of deliberations in the trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The judge, Andrew L. Carter Jr. of Federal District Court in Manhattan, told the jurors they should continue to deliberate, and they did for the first part of the afternoon on Tuesday before heading home.
The note provoked an immediate reaction in the courtroom, where Mr. Seabrook, standing behind his chair, pointed to the ceiling, his eyes fixed upward. “Glory, glory,” he said. But the news that the jury is divided raised the prospect of a mistrial in a high-profile bribery case that not only targeted Mr. Seabrook but also cast a decidedly unfavorable light on City Hall and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“That’s why there’s a deadlock,” he said. “Because I didn’t do nothing wrong.” Prosecutors argued that Mr. Seabrook steered $20 million from the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association into a hedge fund in exchange for promised kickbacks.
After conferring with the lawyers for the government and the defense, Judge Carter directed the jury to resume deliberations, the customary response after a jury first reports that it is deadlocked. But to make its case, the U.S. attorney’s office leaned heavily on the testimony of Jona Rechnitz, a former donor to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with federal prosecutors.
“I urge you to consider one another’s views with an open mind,” the judge told the jurors. He said if that discussion led to a change of heart, “you shouldn’t hesitate in yielding your original point of view.” But, he said, “You’re not to give up a point of view, however, that you conscientiously believe in simply because you’re outnumbered or outweighed.” Mr. Rechnitz testified to paying Mr. Seabrook $60,000 in cash stuffed inside a designer bag as payment for Mr. Seabrook’s investment of union funds.
Defense lawyers, however, assailed Mr. Rechnitz’s credibility, telling jurors that he was a pathological liar and that he continued to lie on the witness stand. Mr. Rechnitz gave the defense lawyers plenty of fodder for their accusations. He admitted telling a string of lies before signing his cooperation agreement, including to law enforcement, family members and potential investors in his various business ventures.
And he made no secret of his efforts to buy influence with key city policymakers — not only Mr. Seabrook, who was one of the city’s most powerful labor leaders for more than two decades, but also Mr. de Blasio.
What in particular has divided the jury is unknown. But some of the jurors appeared put off by Mr. Rechnitz at various points in his six days on the witness stand, despite prosecutors’ efforts to assure jurors that Mr. Rechnitz had no incentive to lie now that he had pleaded guilty.
When the note from the jury arrived on Tuesday, it prompted an immediate reaction from Mr. Seabrook. Standing behind his chair, he pointed to the ceiling, his eyes fixed upward. “Glory, glory,” he said.
“That’s why there’s a deadlock,” he said as he showed reporters the jury’s note. “Because I didn’t do nothing wrong.”
Judge Carter asked the jury to continue trying for a consensus, the customary response after a jury first reports that it is deadlocked.
“I urge you to consider one another’s views with an open mind,” the judge said, adding that if that discussion led to a change of heart, “you shouldn’t hesitate in yielding your original point of view.” But, he said, “You’re not to give up a point of view, however, that you conscientiously believe in, simply because you’re outnumbered or outweighed.”
As the jury filed back out of the courtroom to continue deliberating, at least one juror sighed loudly, “Oh boy, oh boy.”As the jury filed back out of the courtroom to continue deliberating, at least one juror sighed loudly, “Oh boy, oh boy.”
What in particular has divided the jury is unknown, but the panel spent several days listening to the testimony of the government’s key witness, Jona Rechnitz, a former donor to Mayor Bill de Blasio. Lawyers for the government and the defense declined to comment on the deadlock.
Mr. Rechnitz, who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with federal prosecutors, testified to paying Mr. Seabrook $60,000 in cash stuffed inside a designer bag as payment for Mr. Seabrook directing $20 million of union funds into a high-risk investment fund run by Mr. Rechnitz’s friend, Murray Huberfeld, who is also on trial.
Prosecutors had cast Mr. Rechnitz’s testimony as a valuable first-person account of Mr. Seabrook’s and Mr. Huberfeld’s kickback scheme, but defense lawyers had assailed Mr. Rechnitz’s credibility, telling jurors that he was a pathological liar and that he continued to lie on the witness stand.
Mr. Rechnitz gave the defense lawyers plenty of fodder for their accusations. He admitted telling a string of lies before signing his cooperation agreement, including to law enforcement, family members and potential investors in his various business ventures.
And he made no secret of his efforts to buy influence with key city policymakers — not only Mr. Seabrook, who was one of the city’s most powerful labor leaders for more than two decades, but also Mr. de Blasio, to whom Mr. Rechnitz was a generous campaign contributor, and Philip Banks III, once the top chief of the New York Police Department.
Some jurors had appeared visibly perturbed by Mr. Rechnitz when he was testifying; during his cross-examination by defense lawyers, some jurors had shifted in their seats or frowned as he spoke of pay-to-play schemes.