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Updated Dec. 13, 2004, 12:13 p.m. ET

Sleuthing Pelosi jury works through weekend without verdict
Daniel Pelosi claims he was nowhere near East Hampton when his then-girlfriend's husband was killed.

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — A jury deliberating the fate of a Long Island electrician accused of killing financier Ted Ammon deliberated for 12 1/12 hours on Sunday, but so far have been unable to reach a verdict.

The jury, which has been sequestered since deliberations began on Saturday, asked Judge Robert Doyle for crime-scene photos and a magnifying glass after listening to a court reporter read back testimony for several hours.

Lawyers for Daniel Pelosi, 42, seemed pleased that jurors appear to be becoming amateur sleuths. Other than the testimony of witnesses who claim Pelosi admitted to killing Ammon in his expansive East Hampton beach house, prosecutor Janet Albertson was not able to challenge Pelosi's claim that he was 45 minutes away by car with friends and family members that night.

"It was a long day. It has been a hard day," lead defense attorney Gerald Shargel told reporters after jurors were released at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. "I think there is some cause of optimism."


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In her closing argument Friday, Albertson stressed that Pelosi told several people that he killed Ammon and even told one that he was going to get Ammon's millions by killing him in his beach house and then marrying the widow. Pelosi did marry Generosa Ammon three months after the murder, and the prosecution built its case largely on how Pelosi benefited financially from Ted Ammon's death.

Albertson did not stop to speak to reporters as she left the courthouse late Sunday. Before court recessed, she and Shargel had a brief exchange about whether she was speaking loud enough when making comments for the record. Shargel quipped that he was going to slip a Xanax in the prosecutor's beer, which brought laughter from members of the gallery, who recalled Pelosi's testimony that he laced Generosa Ammon's beer with Xanax the day she learned that divorce settlement talks with Ted Ammon were breaking down.

Late Sunday, jurors asked the court for a copy of the settlement. The prosecution claims Pelosi killed Ammon because Generosa Ammon, who has since died, believed that Ammon was worth $300 million but was only offering $25 million over three years and $50,000 per month alimony.

The defense claims Pelosi was advising Generosa Ammon, whom he was living with at the time, to settle for $10 million to end the bitter divorce and custody battle. Midway through the defense case, Pelosi blurted out that Generosa Ammon asked him to kill her husband or find someone who would. Shargel noted during his closing argument that no evidence was presented about where Generosa Ammon was on the night of the killing, and that she felt tremendous hatred toward Ted Ammon.

So far, the jury of nine women and three men have deliberated for a total of 20 1/2 hours.

Before court recessed for the night Sunday, Doyle ordered a woman seated in the gallery to approach the bench and give her name for the record. What Doyle asked the woman was not audible, but when he was done he told her she was "excluded" from the courtroom for the remainder of the trial. Court officers said that some jurors were complaining that the woman, a friend of Pelosi who somehow ended up dining with media members Sunday night, was clasping her hands in prayer and mouthing "not guilty" on several occasions during deliberations.

"I was not doing that. I was not doing that," the woman said as she left the well.

Deliberations resume at 9 a.m. Monday.

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Verdict: Guilty

Pelosi jury deliberates through weekend

Closings: Lawyers agree Pelosi's a bum

Pelosi denies murder during intense cross

Defendant testifies

Witness: I had sex with millionaire

Informant: Pelosi confessed to murder

Is there enough evidence?

Openings: Money, betrayal and surveillance

Pelosi accused of threats, tampering

Trial opens for electrician accused of murdering Hamptons millionaire




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