PHILADELPHIA — From the moment the 12 jurors in the federal bribery trial of Philadelphia City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson entered the deliberation room last week, the group was split.
They scoured mountains of emails, invoices, and trial exhibits. They debated every aspect of the case, covering the walls and tables with Post-it notes, and even working through lunch. But after 25 hours of discussion over four days, the divisions that had marked their deliberations from the start persisted, according to one member of the panel.
“We took several votes during our deliberations and the numbers did change, but very slightly,” he said. But “at no point did we ever come to a unanimous decision on any charge for any defendant.”
