Third mistrial in 'Junior' Gotti case

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A U.S. federal court jury on Wednesday failed to reach a verdict in the racketeering trial of John "Junior" Gotti, the third such trial to end in a hung jury.

"Your Honor, unfortunately, we are deadlocked," read the note the jury sent to U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin, The New York Times reported.

As the judge dismissed the jury, Gotti, 42, cried before hugging lawyer Charles Carnesi, who had also represented him in the second trial, the newspaper said.

The jury sought to determine if Gotti quit the Gambino crime family before July 1991, as he claimed. If so, a 5-year statute of limitations would have expired before prosecutors brought racketeering charges in 2004.

A federal law enforcement official told the Times that given the difficulty the government had in convincing juries, prosecutors would not try Gotti on the same charges again unless they turned up new evidence or were able to link him directly to a killing.