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Jury in Dewey case 'hopelessly deadlocked' after 22 days; judge declares mistrial

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Updated: Twice before, the Manhattan jury deciding a criminal case against former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf have said the group was having difficulty deciding the case.

But the court encouraged the jury to forge on, and each time it reached a verdict on some of the counts.

On Monday, however, the jury reached the end of the road after 22 days of deliberations: Members sent a note to the court Monday saying they are “hopelessly deadlocked,” and the judge declared a mistrial, according to Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).

At issue were fraud and larceny counts against Steven Davis, Stephen DiCarmine and Joel Sanders, who served, respectively, as chairman, executive director and chief financial officer of the now-bankrupt BigLaw firm before its downfall.

They were acquitted on other charges in earlier partial verdicts.

The three men were accused by the government of cooking the books to help keep the firm operational as its income failed to meet lender requirements, but have, at least for now, avoided conviction on any count.

It will be up to the government to decide whether to pursue a new case on the counts that were not decided, the Wall Street Journal notes. They include grand larceny, scheme to defraud, conspiracy and securities fraud.

Updated at 4:06 p.m. to include information about mistrial from Wall Street Journal.

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “Dewey leaders are acquitted of falsifying business records; deliberations continue”

ABAJournal.com: “Dewey defendants are acquitted on additional counts; deliberations resume”

ABA Journal: “How Dewey management’s rosy picture masked an ugly truth”