Jury ends third day of deliberations in Shkreli trial with no verdict

[August 03, 2017]    By Brendan Pierson
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jurors in the U.S. fraud trial of former drug company executive Martin Shkreli deliberated for a third day on Wednesday without reaching a verdict.

Former drug company executive Martin Shkreli (R) and his lead attorney Benjamin Brafman exit U.S. District Court following the third day of jury deliberations in his securities fraud trial in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, U.S., August 2, 2017. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

The day came and went without any word from the jurors in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Juries in lengthy deliberations often send notes asking to review evidence or legal instructions, but Shkreli's jury has sent only one note, Tuesday afternoon, asking for clarification of terms in the case.

They are expected to resume deliberating on Thursday morning.

Before going to trial on securities fraud and conspiracy charges, Shkreli, 34, was best known for raising the price of anti-infection drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent in 2015 as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals.

The criminal case stems from Shkreli's career before Turing, when he managed hedge funds MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare and drug company Retrophin Inc. Prosecutors have said that between 2009 and 2014, Shkreli lied to MSMB investors, lost their money and paid them back with stock and cash taken from Retrophin without the approval of the company's directors.

Shkreli's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, has argued to jurors that, while Shkreli may have made statements to investors that were not entirely accurate, he made them in good faith. He has also stressed that none of Shkreli's investors lost money, a rarity in a securities fraud case.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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