Jury deliberations continue at ex-Assembly speaker’s trial

NEW YORK – A jury is still deliberating in the corruption case against former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

The deliberations, which began Thursday and resumed Friday, come more than two years after Silver’s first trial resulted in a 12-year prison sentence. An appeals court tossed out that conviction, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that changed the legal boundaries for public corruption.

Prosecutors say the 74-year-old Silver earned $4 million illegally in fees for his work on behalf of a cancer researcher and real estate developers who stood to benefit from his clout as one of the three most powerful politicians in New York state government. They say he made another $1 million investing the money.

The defence says the fees were legal.