Monday, March 22, 2010

Mistrial Requested in Veon Case

At least two defendants in the public corruption trial of the former Pennsylvania House Democratic whip and 3 former aides want the judge to declare a mistrial and respond to a previously undisclosed note from the jury foreman suggesting they might be deadlocked.
Attorney Mike Palermo, who represents Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink, a former staffer for former Beaver County State Representative Mike Veon, filed the motion today. His motion says the jury foreman on Friday gave Judge Richard Lewis a note saying the jury had "barriers and biases that cannot be hurdled." It was that same day that the judge excused a juror for illness and replaced her with an alternate. Judge Lewis then asked each of the original 11 jurors if they could start again with their deliberations and they said they could.
Veon's attorney has joined in the motion for a mistrial. Veon and the co-defendants are charged with theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest for allegedly diverting taxpayer dollars to give bonuses to staffers who campaigned on state time.

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