Andersen Jury Deadlocked

Updated from 6:58 p.m. EDT

Faced with a deadlocked jury in the Arthur Andersen obstruction of justice case, a federal judge ordered the panel to continuing deliberating the case they have been considering for nearly a week.

Members of the jury -- which began deliberating about 9 a.m. Thursday -- told the judge late Wednesday afternoon they were "not able to reach a unanimous decision" after nearly 56 hours of deliberations. The jury communicated its deadlock to U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon through a note that a court official shared with reporters.

Andersen has been on trial for its auditing relationship with Enron, the energy concern that filed for bankruptcy last year amid a bookkeeping scandal. The accounting firm was charged with one count of obstruction of justice after admitting to shredding documents related to its work for Enron. The jury must determine whether Andersen intentionally destroyed documents to avoid possible criminal prosecution or as part of a coverup while the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating numerous Enron practices. The jury heard nearly five weeks of testimony in the case.

Harmon notified lawyers for both sides in the case of the deadlock about 5:45 p.m. CDT, saying she planned to send the jury back to deliberations after admonishing the nine-man and three-woman panel it needs to exhaust all opportunities to reach a unanimous verdict. That charge -- referred to as an "Allen charge," or in courtroom vernacular, the "Dynamite charge" -- is used by judges to jolt jurors to produce a verdict. Attorneys for both Andersen and the government were discussing the language to be used in the charge prior to bringing the jury back to the courtroom.

Once the judge orders the jury to continue deliberating, the panel will meet until it reaches a verdict or comes back to inform the judge that its members are hopelessly deadlocked.

Even if the jury continues deliberating, legal experts say the length of deliberations and the current deadlock is not a good sign for prosecutors.

"It's not that often they are able to go back in and reach a decision," securities attorney John Allen told CNN this evening. "Given the fact it has been this long, maybe they can try a couple more days, but it doesn't look very good that they can reach a unanimous verdict."

Andersen attorney Rusty Hardin says the jury's deadlock is telling.

"It says what we've always said, Arthur Andersen wasn't guilty," he said at an impromptu press conference outside the Houston Federal Building. "I'm incredibly impressed with this jury. They waited seven days before telling the judge they needed help."

If Andersen is convicted, it would face fines of at least $500,000 and would be stripped of its ability to audit public companies. Regardless of the verdict, Andersen's future is in doubt. The audit firm has lost more than 600 clients since the scandal began, including more than 70 companies in the S&P 500. Numerous partners have defected to other accounting firms, and the company has given pink slips to more than 7,000 employees.