PHILADELPHIA — The federal bribery trial of Philadelphia City Council member Kenyatta Johnson ended in a mistrial Tuesday, offering an ambiguous conclusion that left prosecutors vowing to retry the case and did little to clarify his future in elected office.
After four days and roughly 25 hours of deliberations, jurors told U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh, they were hopelessly deadlocked on each of the two counts of honest services fraud the council member; his wife, Dawn Chavous; and their two co-defendants faced.
“Individuals from both sides do not believe any additional evidence will change their mind,” the jurors said in a note — their third in as many days indicating they had reached an impasse.
