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Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN
The jury in the murder trial of Rabbi Fred J. Neulander will enter the courtroom this morning deadlocked " at a complete standstill," raising the specter of a possible mistrial.
The jurors, who have deliberated about 30 hours over five days, told a judge Thursday that they were split on all three charges against Neulander - capital murder, felony murder and conspiracy. He is accused of having his wife, Carol, killed in 1994.
"We the jury have come to the point of our deliberations where we are at a complete standstill," the jury forewoman, a nurse, said in a note passed at 4:20 p.m. to Superior Court Presiding Criminal Judge Linda Baxter. "We don't t t anticipate any change in decision and would appreciate further instruction."
Baxter told the jury of six men and six women to return this morning for her decision. She is to speak with attorneys for the defense and prosecution before taking any action.
Baxter could give the jury standard instructions, referred to as "the dynamite charge," on their responsibility to consider other points of view. The charge asks jurors to re- examine their opinions without surrendering their convictions.
Defense attorneys are expected to oppose the charge, claiming it would be coercive and prejudicial.
Jeffrey Zucker, who represents Neulander, said it was too early to tell the impact of the jury's note.
"We'll find out tomorrow," Zucker said as he left the courthouse Thursday. "He (the rabbi) doesn't have any reaction. We're still waiting for the end of the trial."
Camden County First Assistant Prosecutor James Lynch declined to comment.
If jurors can't reach a decision, Baxter may be forced to declare a mistrial. That would mean a new court date would have to be scheduled and a new set of jurors would have to be found - a daunting process given that 1,000 people were called to find 12 jurors and four alternates for the current trial.
Early in deliberations Thursday, the jury delivered several questions to Baxter. It asked for readbacks of testimony of six witnesses, including four from the defense side. One juror asked to be excused, citing demands of his employment, but Baxter denied that request, saying it fell short of legal hardship.
The notes were the first from the jury since Friday, when the panel asked Baxter what to do in case of a deadlock. At that time, the judge told jurors to keep deliberating.
During the readbacks, jurors first heard a segment of of testimony from key prosecution witness Len Jenoff, 56, who has said he and an accomplice killed the rabbi's wife at Neulander's request. Carol Neulander, 52, was fatally beaten in her Cherry Hill home on Nov. 1, 1994. Prosecutors say Neulander wanted his wife dead so he could continue an extramarital affair. In the testimony, Jenoff, a private detective, said he did not make secret tape recordings of any conversations with the rabbi about Carol Neulander's murder.
"It would have been damaging evidence against myself," testified Jenoff, who turned himself in to authorities in April 2000.
A court reporter read the full testimony of Matthew Neulander, a prosecution witness who is now a resident physician in Charlotte, N.C. Among other topics, Matthew Neulander described a fight between his father and mother just days before the murder. Matthew, a Cherry Hill EMT on the night of the murder, also recounted arriving at his family's home after hearing contradictory reports over police radio about a serious injury or death there.
"I ran up the driveway toward the house," Matthew recounted, telling how he found his father outside.
"He was not answering my questions. (I said) `Dad, what's the matter? What's wrong? Where's mom? Is she OK? Is she dead?' He had one response to all of my questions and that was, `Everything is going to be OK.'"
Jurors also were read the full testimony of witnesses called by the defense to attack Jenoff's credibility. Jenoff admitted on the witness stand that he lied to juries in other cases and to the grand juries investigating the Neulander murder.
A court reporter read back the testimony of Richard Plum, a former roommate of Jenoff's, and Jenoff's admitted accomplice, Paul Daniels, 27. Plum testified that Jenoff and Daniels were always short of money - even after the murder, despite Jenoff's claim that the rabbi paid him $7, 500 up front.
Jurors also heard the testimony of:
•Nancy Phillips, a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter who accompanied Jenoff when he confessed to Camden County Prosecutor Lee Solomon.
•FBI Special Agent George Stukenbroker, who said Jenoff approached him before the murder about working for the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.
•David A. Stefankiewicz, a Wildwood attorney who says he met with Jenoff on the day of his confession.
Some jurors, including the forewoman, took notes copiously as the testimonies were read back, while others barely scribbled.
The jury also asked that the media be barred from the courtroom as the testimony was read aloud Thursday morning. The jurors' note expressed a fear "that assumptions of the verdict may be made."
Baxter denied that request, saying court testimony is public.