A court clerk advised Tuesday mid-morning that federal Judge Helen Berrigan cancelled deliberations for the trial of former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Nagin stands trial on corruption charges, the Wall Street Journal reported. It was found that one of the 12 members of the duty was conspicuously absent, forcing Berrigan to postpone deliberations for another day.
Court officials did not divulge details about the juror absence, but WSJ said that should it be serious, one of four juror alternates could take the absent juror's place.
Deliberations will reportedly continue on Wednesday morning, wherein jurors are expected to weigh on the US government's case lodged against Nagin. Nagin has been charged with 21 counts of corruption-related charges, including conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and filing false tax returns. Nagin entered a not guilty plea to all charges, WSJ said.
The newspaper said that trial of Nagin was a vindication for the news reporting industry, as it was through a city news reporter that revealed the illegal activities the former mayor was involved in. WSJ said Lee Zurik, a television reporter, testified for the prosecutors' side earlier in the trial due to a request to gain access to Nagins calendar for 2008. Zurik's insistence to obtain a more detailed version of the calendar after city officials provided him with a redacted version led to the discovery of the many meetings Nagin had held with businessmen the prosecutors said have paid kickbacks to the former mayor. Prosecutors added that businessmen bribed Nagin to help the former secure city government contracts. Moreover, prosecutors pointed out a Times-Picayune article that revealed Nagin's close ties with city contractors.
Nagin's attorney, Robert Jenkins, actually produced the article and showed it in court for the jurors, said WSJ. Jenkins said the article, along with other government witness, were not credible evidence.
"They even put up a picture of The Times-Picayune. They can't even deliver a paper seven days a week," Jenkins said, referring to the local paper's move to cut back its publication in 2013.
