Britney Jury Deadlocked

Jury informs judge they're unable to reach unanimous verdict in Spears' trial; ordered back to deliberations

By Gina Serpe Oct 20, 2008 7:05 PMTags
Britney SpearsINFphoto.com

The jury was out, but the verdict still isn't coming in.

Just two hours into their second day of deliberations, the jury in Britney Spears' misdemeanor driving without a license trial informed the judge that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the case.

Unfortunately, the judge wasn't ready to take a deadlock for an answer, instructing the eight-woman, four-man panel to resume deliberations.

All told, the panel has dedicated slightly more than four hours to pondering Spears' fate, having logged slightly more than two hours in deliberations on Friday before recessing for the weekend.

The deadlock announcement came after the panel dispatched a pair of questions to Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James A. Steele this morning, seeking clarification on not only the charge Spears faces, but why exactly she's facing it.

At roughly 11 a.m., the jury posed two questions to Steele, the first of which asking why Spears was pulled over in the first place.

Their second query was one of clarification, asking whether Spears was charged with driving without a valid license, or simply driving without a California license.

Steele replied to the jurors, telling them to disregard their question of why she was charged, and informing them simply to re-read the statute outlining the finer points of her misdemeanor charge, which stemmed from her August 2007 dinging of a parked car.

The 26-year-old faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine stemming if convicted on the charge.

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