Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories
If nothing else, today’s coverage demonstrates many different ways of saying the jury can’t make up its mind. “Stalemate,” “stumped” and “struggling” were all employed, but the clear winner was “deadlock,” which led the vast majority of pieces. Meanwhile, everyone is guessing at the outcome of a situation the Chicago Sun-Times has suggested was more difficult to read than a passage by James Joyce.
If you find the substance of the case tedious, there’s always the front page of the Toronto Sun, which shows Black flipping the bird to the press on his way into the courthouse. On seeing the photo, a lawyer very close to the case stated, and I quote, “Oh my God. That’s fucking awesome.” Beyond that, there’s a massive crowd on the 12th floor this morning for a sentencing in St. Eve’s courtroom. It’s a wildly complex and controversial terrorism case—absolutely nothing to do with Conrad Black. But it certainly adds to the general air of confusion and anxiety.
Black jury deadlocked [Toronto Star]Cryptic note from jurors in Black trial [Chicago Sun-Times]Black jury is deadlocked [National Post]Jury in Black trial struggling to reach verdicts [Times of London]Judge tells deadlocked Black trial jury to think again [Guardian]Lord Black fraud jury in deadlock drama [Telegraph]Black jury goes back to work [Globe and Mail]
