Adelphia Jurors Seek Excerpts of Testimony in Deliberations
Jurors began deliberations at the fraud and conspiracy trial of Adelphia Communications Corp. founder John Rigas, two of his sons and another executive Monday by asking for 17 documents and a dozen excerpts of testimony.
The panel of seven women and five men reached no verdict on its first day of weighing evidence against the Rigases and former assistant treasurer Michael Mulcahey.
The documents and transcript excerpts that jurors received are central to the government’s case that John Rigas, 79, and his sons Michael, 50, and Timothy, 47, treated Adelphia as a “personal ATM” and led to its bankruptcy in June 2002. The Rigases and Mulcahey, 46, the only defendant to testify, deny that they intended to defraud Adelphia and its investors.
“I think they’re working very hard,” U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand told lawyers after jurors in New York finished for the day. The panel will resume deliberations today on the 23-count indictment.
Jurors requested 1993 and 1994 memos by former finance Vice President LeMoyne Zacherl, who urged Adelphia to stop improper Rigas spending.
Jurors also requested testimony by the government’s star witness, former finance Vice President James Brown, on several subjects.
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