Gotti Jury Says It Is Deadlocked

MYFOX/AP - A jury in federal court in New York City that has been considering racketeering charges against John "Junior" Gotti for two weeks has told a judge it is still unable to agree on a verdict. The judge presiding over the trial admonished the jurors and told them to keep deliberating until it reaches a unanimous verdict, citing the"Allen charge."

The jury sent a note to U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel saying that its members could not reach a unanimous verdict. Lawyers for Gotti requested a mistrial declaration, but Castel instructed the jury to finish the job.

"This trial has been conducted at considerable expense and human effort to both the government and the defendant," the judge told jurors. "If your deliberations do not end in a verdict, in all likelihood it would have to be tried again before another jury."

The so-called Allen charge is a set of instructions given to a jury when it reports that it is deadlocked. It is barred in some state courts, but is cleared for use in federal courts.

The trial is the fourth time federal prosecutors have sought a conviction against Gotti. Three previous trials ended in hung juries.

In this case, presented in the Southern District of New York, the federal prosecutors linked Gotti to a string of murders in the 1980s and 1990s and to drug trafficking. He denied the charges, claiming he quit the mob more than a decade ago.

His father, mob boss John Gotti, died in prison while serving a life term.