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February 16, 2006
Jury Rests Hands Until Morning
Two afternoon hours of deliberation weren't enough for the Federal jury in William Cotton's extortion case: they asked to go home a few minutes after 5 o'clock, and Judge Edgar Allan approved a recess until 9 a.m. tomorrow.
Cotton spent the deliberations across the street from the courthouse in Miller Park. Clad in a black suit, he sat on a park bench smoking cigarettes. Early in the afternoon, he gathered with family members at the north edge of the park for a prayer circle.
Assistant U. S. District Attorney John MacCoon sat across the street in front of the Solomon Federal Building. Defense head Hank Hill -- who has proved the highlight of this trial, alternating between dogged questioning and wisecracks -- milled with the press corps, trading jokes.
Why didn't Cotton testify? I asked him. "Why should he?" Hill replied. "The government has to prove their case, and it's not the burden of my client to prove it for them."
Was he confident about Cotton's chances?
"I'm not usually confident until I got to bed at night, and then it's just that I'll get up in the morning."
News Update | By mesh | 06:00 PM
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