The Dallas trial of a charity accused of financing Middle Eastern terrorists took a twist Wednesday when jurors indicated that a member of the panel was refusing to vote.
refusing out of fear?
Jurors in the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development were called back into the courtroom of U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish, who told panelists they had a duty to try to reach a decision. The judge ordered jurors to resume their deliberations, which were in their ninth full day after a two-month trial.
Holy Land and five of its former leaders are accused of illegally aiding the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which the U.S. government designated a terrorist organization in 1995. Holy Land was the largest U.S. Muslim charity when the government shut it down in December 2001.
None of the jurors spoke during the brief hearing in open court, and the judge did not identify which one was refusing to deliberate. |