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Squabbling jurors at the Joseph Percoco corruption trial asked Friday to review closing arguments from the lawyers in an apparent bid to bolster their own positions — but got shot down by the judge.
“I regret to tell you closing arguments are not evidence,” Manhattan federal Judge Valerie Caproni told the panel in response to a note sent out around 9:30 a.m.
“I can only send evidence back to the jury room. Please continue deliberations.”
The jury is midway through its sixth day of considering conspiracy, bribery and other charges against Percoco, a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and three-co-defendants accused of paying him more than $300,000 in bribes for official favors.
The trial began began Jan. 23.
On Tuesday, the foreman sent out a note that said, “The only thing we seem to agree on is that we cannot agree.”
In response, Caproni read the jury a “modified Allen charge” that urged members to “exchange views with the other jurors and listen carefully and respectfully to each other.”
If the jurors again say they’re deadlocked, the judge is likely to deliver a harsher instruction telling those in the minority to reconsider their opinions in light of the majority’s view.


