RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press
ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Jurors have begun deliberations in the federal trial of the owner of a Georgia peanut plant linked to a deadly salmonella outbreak five years ago.
The jury started weighing evidence for a short time Friday before adjourning with no verdict.
U.S. District Court Judge Louis W. Sands told jurors they won’t return until Thursday because scheduling conflicts will require the court to recess the first part of next week.
Former Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell has been on trial since Aug. 1 on charges related to the outbreak that killed nine Americans and sickened 714.
He and his brother, food broker Michael Parnell, are charged with shipping tainted food and faking lab tests for salmonella. The plant’s quality control manager, Mary Wilkerson, is charged with obstruction of justice.
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