CHICAGO - Jurors have finished a second day of deliberations without a verdict in the trial of the man charged with murdering Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew.
The jury was scheduled to resume deliberations yesterday morning in the trial of Hudson's former brother-in-law, William Balfour.
Judge Charles Burns has ordered the jurors sequestered at a hotel to ensure they do not view media coverage of the trial.
Balfour, who turned 31 on Thursday, pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the October 2008 slayings. The former gang member faces a mandatory life prison sentence if he is convicted on all the charges.
Prosecutors say Balfour murdered the three in an act of vengeance because his estranged wife at the time, Hudson's sister Julia Hudson, refused to reconcile with him. With no surviving witnesses to testify, prosecutors spent two weeks presenting a largely circumstantial case against Balfour. His lawyer, Amy Thompson, seized on that, saying prosecutors had failed to meet the burden of proof needed to convict Balfour.