Judge Replaces Ailing Juror in Scrushy Trial

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A judge scuttled a month of unproductive deliberations in the fraud trial of fired HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Richard Scrushy on Wednesday as she dismissed a sick juror and ordered the panel to begin work anew with an alternate.

Citing a juror’s “recurring health problems” that have become worse as days of deliberations turned into weeks, U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre replaced one male juror with another and instructed the panel members to “start from scratch” with their talks.

The jurors agreed with Bowdre’s request to extend their workday in hopes of reaching a verdict in a trial that began in January.

Outside court, Scrushy said he still expected to be exonerated and urged patience with the jury, which has been criticized in the local media for its failure to reach a unanimous decision in 17 days of deliberations spread out over a month.

“Now that we’ve started over again, I think it’s time we all calm down and be patient,” Scrushy said.

U.S. Atty. Alice Martin said that the judge questioned the 11 original jurors in private and that all said they were willing and able to continue deliberations with a new member.

Larry Soderquist, an expert in corporate crime, said Bowdre was wise to use the alternate rather than reducing the jury to 11 people, a move the defense opposed. A new face with new views will help, he said.

“It’s a positive development,” said Soderquist, director of the Corporate and Securities Law Institute at Vanderbilt University. “We have now real hope with a fresh juror that they will be able to reach a verdict.”

Paul Lapides, director of the Corporate Governance Center at Kennesaw State University near Atlanta, also called the restart a positive development but questioned whether the original jurors could truly begin again.

“I don’t think you ever really start deliberations anew,” he said.

Prosecutors accuse Scrushy of directing a seven-year scheme to overstate earnings by $2.7 billion at the Birmingham-based rehabilitation and medical services chain. Scrushy is accused of making millions of dollars from the fraud through stock sales and bonuses.

Scrushy didn’t testify, but his defense blamed the fraud on former aides, including 15 onetime HealthSouth executives who pleaded guilty.

Originally composed of seven men and five women and evenly split between blacks and whites, the jury had the same gender mix after the addition of the alternate. The dismissed juror was replaced with a black man, leaving a racial breakdown of seven blacks and five whites.

Although Scrushy is white, the racial composition of the jury could be important because his defense compared his trial to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s during closing arguments. Scrushy was surrounded by black ministers and friends on many days in court.

Bowdre again instructed jurors on the law in the case before sending them behind closed doors to deliberate. Beginning today, she said, the jury will work from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. -- 2 1/2 hours longer than they have been deliberating.