The waiting game continues today for a verdict in the federal civil rights trial of Mayor Frank Melton and his former police bodyguard, Michael Recio.
The jury tried to call it quits at 2 p.m. Thursday, the first full day of deliberations. But by the end of the day, there was no talk of an impasse. Jurors agreed to reconvene at 9:15 a.m. today at the federal court house in downtown Jackson to continue their work.
Melton, 59, and Recio, 39, face charges related to a warrantless, police-style raid on a Jackson duplex in August 2006. Melton later said the building was a “crack house.”
If convicted on all counts, the men face between five and 25 years in prison. Melton also would have to step down as mayor. Recio, who is on paid leave from the Jackson Police Department, would have to turn in his badge.
Magnolia Tribune
