Jurors in the federal racketeering case against a South Side gang told the judge Wednesday that they “have reached a stalemate,” but were instructed to continue deliberating.
U.S. District Judge Robert John Blakey declined to declare a mistrial. Deliberations had to start over from scratch last week after one juror was dismissed, he noted, so the current panel had not been deliberating particularly long.
And Blakey said he would not yet ask jurors whether they had reached consensus on any of the counts. Instead, he called them back into the courtroom and reminded them to make “every reasonable effort to reach a verdict.”
“Discuss your differences with an open mind,” he said. “… You are impartial judges of the facts.”
After jurors had shuffled out of the courtroom, Blakey turned to the attorneys.
“Stay close by,” he said. “We’ll see what happens next.”
On trial are reputed Goonie leader Romeo “O-Dog” Blackman and two alleged henchmen, Terrance “T” Smith and Jolicious “Jo Jo” Turman. In all, the indictment alleged the Goonies were responsible for 10 slayings and six attempted murders in an 18-month span from 2014 to 2016.
Prosecutors say the gang faction acted as “urban hunters,” terrorizing residents and ruling territory in the Englewood neighborhood through unrelenting waves of gun violence.
Over five weeks of testimony, jurors have watched killings play out on surveillance video, saw social media posts where Goonie members allegedly kept a tally of victims and “rejoiced” in the death of rivals, and heard testimony from a parade of cooperating witnesses who described each member’s alleged role in the organization.
