After a week of deliberation, the jury foreman has told the court Phil Spector's jury is split 7-5 and he does not believe that anything, at this point, will change their point of view. As such, Judge Fidler is considering allowing them to deliberate a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Yesterday afternoon, the judge dismissed the jurors -- after asking them if they thought there was any way to break the deadlock -- and told them to return today at 10am. After they were dismissed, he informed the attorneys he was considering giving them the option of discussing involuntary manslaughter. This is a major switch, as a week ago, Fidler stood firmly against allowing the jury to consider anything but second-degree murder charges.
In which direction the 7-5 split favors remains unknown, though three jurors requested "more instructions from the court." Most of them, however, said they did not believe anything would change the minds of the jurors in this case.
Today, the jurors will be re-read their instructions, including the definition of "reasonable doubt," then sent off to deliberate further while Judge Fidler discusses potentially bringing involuntary manslaughter into the picture with the defense and the prosecution. If he decides this is a viable conviction, the jurors will return to the courtroom for more arguments from the attorneys.
Things are getting even more interesting when it comes to this trial... though it does appear that the judge wants Phil Spector to go to jail for something, and thought the jury would convict the producer of murder. I can't think of any reason why he would change his mind when it came to allowing lesser charges. That said, this trial has been pretty insane from day one; did anyone expect it to resolve in a neat and simple way?
