Percoco Jury Says It Is Deadlocked, Again

NEW YORK — The jury in a major New York corruption trial announced for the second time that it was deadlocked, dimming the prospects once again for a verdict in the trial of a former senior aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The jurors sent a note to Judge Valerie E. Caproni of U.S. District Court in Manhattan shortly after convening Monday morning for their seventh day of deliberations. They are tasked with deciding whether the aide, Joseph Percoco, is guilty of taking more than $300,000 in bribes from three executives with business before the state. The executives are also on trial.

“After considering the facts and the evidence with open minds, and using your instructions as a road map, we remain unable to reach a unanimous verdict,” the note said.

Caproni acknowledged the jurors’ declared impasse but instructed them to continue trying to reach a consensus.

“Jury duty can be burdensome, and this case has put particular strain on some of you,” she said. “But remember that you each took an oath to try this case.

“This was a long case, and it involved considerable effort to everyone involved,” she continued. “This case is very important to the government, and it’s very important to the defense.”

The jury’s frustration with the plodding trial, now in its eighth week, has become evident in recent days. The panel sent its first note declaring itself deadlocked last Tuesday, citing “fundamental differences.” Three jurors also asked to be dismissed.

Then, too, the judge instructed the jurors to continue deliberating, although her instruction, known as an Allen charge, was given in gentler terms. Her stronger charge on Monday reflected her stated desire to avoid a mistrial.

Prosecutors seemed anxious at the jury’s lack of progress. One, Janis Echenberg, asked the judge to direct the jurors to stay until 5:30 p.m., instead of 2 p.m.

“The jury has not yet had a full day of deliberations,” Echenberg said. Each day of deliberations has started late or ended early, often at jurors’ requests. “We think it is important that they spend an entire day, as almost all juries do, attempting to deliberate.”

Caproni declined to do so. She also rejected the prosecution’s request to clarify to the jurors that they could return a partial verdict, if they failed to reach full agreement on all the counts.

The jury finished the rest of the day without further notes, except to request a break and some water. Deliberations are scheduled to resume Tuesday.