A Manhattan jury trying to decide whether Brooke Astor’s son and lawyer looted the socialite’s estate continued deliberating yesterday, one day after a juror complained she felt threatened during heated discussions. Acting Supreme Court Justice A. Kirke Bartley unsealed a note jurors had sent Monday that said a member of the panel felt “personally threatened” by another juror’s comments and, “with regards to her personal safety, she wishes to be dismissed.” The note did not identify the jurors, all of whom returned yesterday.
The defense yesterday asked for a mistrial in light of the jury tensions. “Any defendant has a right to be judged by a jury that is dispassionate, objective, and fair,” lawyer John Cuti wrote in a letter to the judge. “If a conscientious member of a jury is so intimidated by the conduct of her peers in the jury room that she fears for her own physical safety, it is asking too much for that juror to remain true to her oath to decide the case based on her honestly held views.”
