trendsetter

I answered that the prediction was found to be true. In fact a mistrial was declared because the jury could not agree on a verdict. The jury hung at 10:2 but whether it was 10 for guilty and 2 for not guilty, or vice versa, no-one has said.

But what are the chances now of Spector being re-tried? With the difficulty the prosecution has had with this trial, it is hard to see how they will be able to start all over again with a fresh trial, in which case Spector will be aquited effectively.

The prosecution has said it will begin a new trial but I think they were bound to say that straight after the trial. Whether they will say that in a few weeks time, we shall see. And so I am going to start a new prediction, which is the likelihood of the prosecution starting a new trial.

The jury is out at the moment. They have been out for about a week. They came back after being out for several days to ask the judge to clear up something for them.

Both the defence and the prosecution argued about what the judge's amended wording to the jury should be.

Commentators have mentioned that it is unusual for a jury to come back after being out for so long and shows there are deep divisions between the jury members.

if I understood it correctly, the argument centered on whether Spector had to have been touching the gun when it went off in order for him to be guilty of murder.

I think the suggestion from the prosection is that if Spector knew he was speaking to a person in a fragile state, put the gun in her mouth, left her holding the gun and maybe said something cutting, and she fired the gun, it is still murder because he knew the likely outcome of what he did. But don't hold me to that because i just picked up snippets from reading the reports.