Trouble Brewing Among Ryan Jurors

By Amy Hart in News on Mar 23, 2006 8:29PM

The members of the jury in the George Ryan corruption trial apparently aren’t getting along very well. After over seven days of deliberations, Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer gave each member of the jury a letter telling them to treat each other with “dignity and respect” and to keep all discussions of the case private.

Pallmeyer wrote the letter after the jurors sent her two notes saying the diverse group was experiencing “personal difficulties” in their discussions. These difficulties apparently include name calling and breaking off into small cliques. Wow, we’re having flashbacks of high school now.

There were also rumors of a hung jury after Pallmeyer had long meetings with the attorneys for both sides, but the judge is keeping the specifics sealed for now, and told the jurors to get back to work.

So far the work seems to have confused the jurors as they asked for, and were refused, a law dictionary after receiving what they referred to as “ambiguous” legal instructions.

Update: Pallmeyer is now investigating one of the jurors after the Trib alleges the individual was possibly less than truthful when answering his/her questionnaire during jury selection.