Jury Struggles In Terror Financing Trial
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DALLAS — The trial of an American-based charity accused of financing Middle Eastern terrorists took a twist yesterday when jurors indicated that a member of the panel was refusing to vote.
Jurors in the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development were called back into the courtroom, where the judge said they had a duty to try to reach a decision. The jurors’ deliberations were in their ninth full day.
Holy Land — the largest American Muslim charity when the government shut it down in December 2001 — and five of its former leaders are accused of illegally aiding the Palestinian Arab militant group Hamas, which the American government designated a terrorist organization in 1995.
If jurors cannot reach a decision, the judge told them, the case would be tried again, adding to the cost for both the government and defendants.
Such jury instructions are usually reserved for deadlocked juries.
Prosecutor James Jacks objected yesterday, apparently believing it was too early for the judge to use such a tool.