The divided jury in the corporate fraud trial of former HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Richard Scrushy adjourned on Friday after a seventh day of fruitless deliberations – and his lawyers could hardly contain their delight, writes Paul Simao of Reuters in this report.

Prosecutors were increasingly glum this week, doggedly rebuffing reporters’ attempts to guess which way the jury was leaning in the trial in Birmingham, Alabama, and the stark contrast, besides signaling a shift in momentum and a possible mistrial after nearly four months of testimony, put attention on the strategies used to choose the jury in January.

Scrushy’s team hired a consultant during “voir dire,” the process in which attorneys question and often strike potential jurors. They declined to say what was spent on this part of the case, but said it was “pennies” compared to the government. . . .

Scrushy’s defense was happy with its results.

“All in all, I couldn’t conceive of a better jury,” said Jim Parkman, an attorney for Scrushy, who is accused of orchestrating a $2.7 billion accounting fraud at the Birmingham-based medical rehabilitation firm.

“I think we have a jury of his peers,” said Donald Watkins, another member of the defense.

There are seven men and five women on the jury, which was polled from three counties around Birmingham. Half are black, not an unusual number in the city but higher than what one would expect based on the population of these counties.

Race may be a factor in this case, say some, because Scrushy, a white 52-year-old multimillionaire, is a high-profile member of a predominantly black nondenominationalChristian church in Birmingham.

He joined in 2003, the year he was ousted from his position at HealthSouth. His choice of churches was seen as somewhat unusual in the Deep South, with its history of racial segregation.

In addition, Scrushy has preached in several other black churches and donated money to their congregations. A number of black pastors and worshipers came out to support him during the trial in downtown Birmingham.

Scrushy’s lawyers skirt the issue when asked whether they tried to stack the jury with blacks, but admit they took an interest in the religious beliefs of potential jurors, hoping to select as many believers as possible.

Alabama has a large number of fundamentalist Christians and one of the nation’s highest church attendance rates.

For their part, prosecutors refuse to talk about what motivated them during jury selection. . . .

Did the strategy work? We will see.

© 2005, Glynn Wilson. All rights reserved.