Jury in Hudson-related case meets for 3rd day

[May 11, 2012]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Jurors enter a third day deliberating at the Chicago trial of Jennifer Hudson's former brother-in-law accused of slaying the Oscar-winner's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

They begin Friday after offering no clues Thursday about whether they're close to a decision about William Balfour. Jurors sent the judge a note Wednesday but none since.

They're sequestered overnights at a hotel so they can't see news on the case.

Some juries first go through all testimony before polling themselves. At Balfour's two-week trial, prosecutors called 83 witnesses and entered boxfuls of evidence, from maps to the .45-caliber handgun allegedly use in the slayings.

Some legal observers say the longer jurors deliberate, the better for the defense. But that frequently doesn't turn out to be true.

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL TARM]

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