Jackson jury may be ‘deadlocked’, legal analysts claim

The longer the wait for a verdict in Michael Jackson’s child sex abuse case, the more likely that jurors are deadlocked, according to legal analysts.

The eight women and four men will have spent more than 28 hours weighing up the evidence as they enter their second full week of deliberations today.

They had 10 counts to consider relating to the alleged child molestation, and could put Jackson behind bars for up to 20 years.

Their verdict must be unanimous and in the event of a hung jury on any one of the charges, the prosecution would have up to 60 days to decide whether to seek a re-trial which could begin within two months.

Susan Filan, a former prosecutor and NBC legal analyst said they would be unlikely to retry the conspiracy charges but would attempt to get a molestation conviction. She said the cost of the case and the extraordinary levels of international publicity would not effect the decision in any way and that the wheels would be set in motion for a re-trial very quickly.

As the waiting game continues, legal analysts agree that it looks less and less good for Jackson. Craig Smith, a former Santa Barbara County prosecutor said: “If they came back earlier in the week it would have been a good sign for the defence. To come back at this point...is more probable that it is going to be guilty on at least one of the counts. If we get to this time next week I think we are looking at a hung jury.”