John Wiley Price jury deadlocked on some counts; deliberations to continue

Jurors deliberating in the John Wiley Price public corruption trial are deadlocked on an unknown number of counts.

Judge Barbara Lynn told the jurors Tuesday afternoon to go home, relax and come back on Wednesday morning ready to try and come to a verdict.

The revelation of the jury being stuck on some of the counts in the case increases the worry that two months of testimony will have been for nothing if the trial winds up ending in a hung jury.

"Anytime they cannot reach a unanimous verdict means that somebody has to try again to convince people that they haven’t yet convinced. That’s a stressful social dynamic we've all experienced, every one of us, in other contexts. It’s doubly stressful when you’re in this circumstance,” said courtroom observer and attorney Chrysta Castaneda.

Price’s charges and possible sentences are:

• 1 count bribery - 5 years maximum
• 6 counts mail fraud/honest services - 30 years maximum per count
• 1 count conspiracy to commit mail fraud - 5 year maximum
• 3 counts false tax returns - 3 years maximum per count

Daphney Fain’s charges and possible sentences are:

• 1 count conspiracy to commit mail fraud - 5 year maximum
• 1 count lying to the government - 5 years maximum

Price is accused of accepting nearly $1 million in bribes over the course of a decade in the form of money, cars, and land. In exchange, the government argues, he got deals for companies doing business for Dallas County. The defense argued the payments price received were loan repayments.