Jury back at work

How should I put this. I'd be lying to you folks if I told you this was exciting.

We're sitting in a hallway watching people get off an elevator. We look at them, they look at us.

Then they get back on the elevator to go downstairs, and we wait for the next group.

I can't imagine what it must be like for both parties involved to wait for the verdict.

The jury has been at work now for about 12 hours over three days.

There is a lot on the line here.

If John Ford is convicted on all five counts, he could face up to 60 years in prison, and more than a million dollars in fines.

The government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Operation Tennessee Waltz.

Ford was arrested back on May 25, 2005.

Here we are almost two years later, and his future rests in the hands of the jury.

I'll keep you updated.

Good Morning ... again!

Good morning again from the courthouse.

Here we go again. Day three of deliberations.

The judge has just arrived.

I haven't seen any sign of the jury, but they could already be in the jury room.

They were instructed last night to report at 9:30 a.m.

Last night ended with a question ... not a verdict.

John Ford left court saying he feels good.

His attorney, Michael Scholl, declined to make any comments about the jury's question.

Done for the day

The jurors have finished day two of deliberations without a verdict.

They'll be back at 9:30 in the morning.

"I feel good," John Ford said as he left the courtroom.

The jury arrives

The judge gives the jury the following definition of "color of official right":

"By reason of one who is a public official or holds public office. That is the definition the court is going to give you," says the judge to the jury.

Bring the jury in

After some debate. The judge has asked the court security officer to bring the jury in.

Questions over the question

"The instructions are as they are. My opinion is we shouldn't be handing any additional instructions back," says defense attorney Michael Scholl.

Prosecutor Tim DiScenza suggests supplemental jury instructions are common.

The judge interprets "color of official right" to mean "that pertaining to a public official or one who holds public office."

"Color of Official Right"

Prosecutor suggests color of official right means "someone who held public office."

Ford's attorney thinks the jury instructions should stand the way they are.

"Color of official right is not specifically explained," says the prosecutor. It means "holding a public office," he says.

"I think the definition would be ... by reason of that person being a public official or holding public office," says the judge.

Ford's attorney wants to just point the jurors to the jury instructions.