U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre today appointed an alternate juror to replace a male juror suffering from “recurring health problems” during jury deliberations in the corporate-fraud trial of former HealthSouth Corp. CEO Richard M. Scrushy (a previous post on the trial is here). With that move, the judge proceeded to instruct the jury that it would have to start over in its deliberations toward a verdict on the 36 criminal counts against Mr. Scrushy.
This development probably went over about as well as the proverbial turd in the punchbowl with the Scrushy jurors, who have been deliberating on the case since May 19 after enduring a trial that began on January 25.
The 36 counts against Mr. Scrushy include conspiracy, fraud, false statements and one count of false certification under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Mr. Scrushy used the “honest idiot” defense during the trial, contending that the finance executives at the company who engineered the fraud hid it from him.
Houston's Clear Thinkers
Longtime Houston attorney Tom Kirkendall's observations on developments in law, business, medicine, culture, sports, and other matters of general interest to the Houston business, professional, and academic communities.
The Travails of Richard Scrushy
Tom Kirkendall comments on the extended deliberations of the jury in the trial of Richard Scrushy. The judge had to appoint an alternate juror after one of the regular jurors became ill. The addition of the alternate (who had not…