U.K. hacking trial ends with jury deadlocked

Andy Coulson, right, former News of the World editor, arrives at the Central Criminal Court in London, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. Coulson was convicted of phone hacking Tuesday, but fellow editor Rebekah Brooks was acquitted after a months long trial centering on illegal activity at the heart of Rupert Murdoch's newspaper empire. A jury at London's Old Bailey unanimously found Coulson, the former spin doctor of British Prime Minister David Cameron, guilty of conspiring to intercept communications. The nearly eight-month trial was triggered by revelations that for years the News of the World used illegal eavesdropping to get stories, listening in on the voicemails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims.
Andy Coulson, right, former News of the World editor, arrives at the Central Criminal Court in London, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. Coulson was convicted of phone hacking Tuesday, but fellow editor Rebekah Brooks was acquitted after a months long trial centering on illegal activity at the heart of Rupert Murdoch's newspaper empire. A jury at London's Old Bailey unanimously found Coulson, the former spin doctor of British Prime Minister David Cameron, guilty of conspiring to intercept communications. The nearly eight-month trial was triggered by revelations that for years the News of the World used illegal eavesdropping to get stories, listening in on the voicemails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims.

LONDON -- Britain's tabloid phone-hacking trial ended Wednesday with a hung jury on two final counts -- and a judge's rebuke for Prime Minister David Cameron, whose televised comments about the case while it was still underway almost scuttled proceedings.

Cameron is already under pressure for his ties to the only person convicted at the trial, former News of the World tabloid editor and Cameron's former communications director, Andy Coulson.

Coulson's conviction for conspiracy to hack phones was also unwelcome news for Rupert Murdoch, his former employer, and raises the possibility of a corporate prosecution for Murdoch's media company, News Corp.

Senior Murdoch executives already have been questioned by U.K. police investigating wrongdoing at Murdoch's British tabloids, and The Guardian reported Wednesday that detectives want to question Murdoch "under caution" -- meaning as a potential suspect.

Neither the police nor News Corp. would comment on that report.

On Tuesday, a jury at London's Old Bailey unanimously convicted Coulson of conspiring to hack phones. Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Murdoch's British newspapers, was acquitted of charges related to phone hacking, bribing officials and obstructing police. Her husband, Charlie Brooks, and three of her former employees also were cleared.

Media industry analyst Claire Enders said Murdoch and his executives would likely be relieved, even with the mixed verdicts.

"The conviction of Andy Coulson has definitely created the possibility of a corporate prosecution," Enders said. "But that is a small worry compared to what would have occurred if Rebekah Brooks had been found guilty. The charges of which she was acquitted, in particular perverting the course of justice, would have been difficult to shift from her ultimate boss."

Judge John Saunders ended the trial Wednesday -- the 139th day of proceedings -- after jurors said they could not agree on whether Coulson and ex-News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman were guilty on two counts of paying police officers for royal phone directories. Prosecutors plan to announce Monday whether they will seek a retrial on those charges.

Coulson, who was Cameron's communications chief between 2007 and 2011, faces up to two years in jail on the hacking charge. He is to be sentenced next week, along with five former News of the World staff members who pleaded guilty before the trial began.

The eight-month trial -- one of the longest and most expensive criminal cases in British history -- was triggered by revelations that the News of the World had routinely eavesdropped on the voice mails of politicians, celebrities and others in the public eye.

The resulting furor led Murdoch to shut down the 168-year-old newspaper and triggered police investigations in which dozens of journalists, police officers and other officials have been arrested.

The Metropolitan Police said those investigations have cost more than $54 million and identified 5,500 potential hacking victims.

News Corp. has spent more than $500 million on costs related to the scandal, including payments to hundreds of people whose phones were hacked.

The trial of Brooks and Coulson -- once powerful insiders with close ties to Cameron and other top political figures -- drew intense interest in Britain.

Coulson's lawyers repeatedly sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that their client could not receive a fair trial given the vast amount of speculation about the case. Their final attempt was spurred by Cameron's televised apology Tuesday for hiring Coulson in 2007 -- after Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were briefly jailed for hacking the phones of royal aides.

"It is astonishing, we say unprecedented, for a prime minister to make public comments of such a crucial juncture in trial proceeding," said Coulson's lawyer, Timothy Langdale.

The judge did not throw out the case but admonished Cameron, saying it was "unsatisfactory, so far as justice and the rule of law are concerned ... when politicians regard it as open season."

In the House of Commons, Cameron apologized again for his "wrong decision" in hiring Coulson, but opposition leader Ed Miliband said an apology was not good enough.

"This is about his character, his judgment and the warnings he ignored," Miliband said of Cameron. "For four years the prime minister's handpicked closest adviser was a criminal and brought disgrace to Downing Street."

A Section on 06/26/2014

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