Gotti jury breaks for weekend

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The federal jurors trying to reach a decision in the John "Junior" Gotti murder-racketeering trial in New York broke for the weekend Thursday.

It was the seventh day of deliberations for the U.S. District Court jury, which will return to work Monday.

New York's Newsday reported there were indications during the day the panel was having trouble reaching a verdict.

"At this time we are unable to reach a unanimous verdict as to Count 1, 2 and 3," the jury foreman wrote in a note to Judge Kevin Castel shortly before lunch.

At mid-afternoon, the jurors were brought before the judge, who told them to keep trying, the report said.

"It's your duty as jurors to consult with one another and to deliberate with the goal of reaching an agreement," Castel told them. "Please remember you are not partisans. You are judges, judges of the facts, not representatives of a constituency or a cause."

Three previous trials for Gotti ended in hung juries.

Gotti, 45, son of the late Gambino crime family boss John J. Gotti who claims he left the mob in 1999, was tried three times in 2005 and 2006 on racketeering charges. He also is accused of ordering the killings of George Grosso in December 1988 and Bruce Gotterup in November 1991.