Jury in Sheldon Silver's corruption trial dismissed for the weekend

The jury in the federal corruption trial of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver deliberated for 2 1/2 hours Wednesday without reaching a verdict, and was told to return to federal court in Manhattan on Monday to resume work on the high-profile case.

The deliberations came after U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni refused a request for a private meeting from a juror who said in a Tuesday note she was "stressed" and "pressured" because she had different views than others, and wanted off.

The judge told the panel that she could not intervene because secrecy of deliberations was a "cornerstone" of the judicial system, and told them to keep discussing the case with "an open mind in a give and take process," but not give up their individual views just because they were outnumbered.

Silver, leaving court, put a happy face on the jury-room spat, rejecting press speculation about an 11-1 split for conviction.

"She might be the only one that wants to vote guilty," he said.

The ex-speaker also said the notes during the first two days of deliberations weren't unusual.

"Nothing unique," he told a gaggle of reporters on the steps of the lower Manhattan courthouse. "The case is in the hands of the jury and they'll be back Monday and I hope everybody has a nice Thanksgiving and I hope the jury has a nice Thanksgiving."

Asked what he had to be grateful for, one of Silver's attorneys said, "Great lawyers," and Silver added, "Beautiful weather."

Silver, 71, is charged with bribery, extortion and money laundering for two alleged schemes in which he traded legislative favors for referral fees at law firms.

In one arrangement, he allegedly steered $500,000 in state research grants to an asbestos doctor who sent patients to a personal-injury law firm that paid Silver a piece of any recoveries. In the other, he is accused of tilting real estate bills toward developers who took legal business to a firm that shared fees with Silver.

After more than two decades as one of Albany's top power brokers, Silver resigned as speaker after he was indicted, but the Democrat continues to represent Manhattan's Lower East Side in the Assembly.

He faces automatic expulsion from the legislature if he is convicted of a felony. The maximum prison sentence if he is convicted of all charges would be 130 years, but Silver's actual sentence would probably be far shorter.