Possible mistrial in Scrushy case

The US government's case against Richard M. Scrushy appears to have run into serious trouble. On Friday, after two weeks of deliberation, the 12 jurors in the trial of the former HealthSouth CEO said they are deadlocked and unable to reach a verdict. US District Judge Karen Bowdre has ordered the jury to press on and reach a decision. There is considerable skepticism, however, that they will be able to do so.

Prosecutors allege Scrushy was the mastermind of an attempt to defraud investors by inflating the Birmingham, Alabama-based health giant's earnings by as much as $2.7 billion. The defense has argued that Scrushy was the victim of a vast conspiracy by lower-level executives who sought to pin the blame for their misdeeds on him. Significantly, Scrushy is the first executive to stand trial under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the legislation passed by Congress which seeks to hold executives accountable for corporate wrongdoing.

- see this story from the Boston Globe
- see this story from the Birmingham News
- see this story from the Birmingham Business Journal