The jury in the Joe Nacchio trial is deliberating. The foreman is the United Airlines captain. Does the captain bode well for the prosecution or defense? According to Jeff Smith of the Rocky Mountain News,

After jury selection, experts quickly speculated what might happen if the United Airlines pilot became foreman of the jury. Denver criminal defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt indicated it would bode well for the defense, while Russell Mokhiber, publisher of the Corporate Crime Reporter in Washington, predicted it would mean conviction.

Keep in mind those predictions were made before any of the evidence was presented to the jury. Would I have the same prediction now? I’m not sure. Of the sixteen jurors selected, only twelve are deliberating, eight of whom are men. Does that make a difference? Again, hard to say. The jury has asked several questions so far, all of which signal to me they are still in the process of trying to organize the material they have to work with. The funniest line of the day goes to Judge Nottingham:

Nottingham told lead defense attorney Herbert Stern and his team that they can’t get a flight out of Denver anyway because United Airlines just canceled a bunch of flights. He suggested with a laugh they could rent the movie “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead.”

It’s after midnight as I write this, and there’s still no snow in downtown Denver. Will tomorrow be a snow day? I don’t think it matters. This jury is going to be deliberating into next week, regardless of the weather.