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Percoco jury deadlocks, told to keep going

Jurors in the federal corruption trial of the former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo say they’re deadlocked, but the judge told them to keep deliberating.

While Judge Valerie Caproni is giving jurors Wednesday off for a snow day, she told them they have to come back on Thursday.

The jurors in the bribery trial of Joe Percoco and three other defendants, now in its seventh week, told the judge Tuesday that they are deadlocked, and that the only thing they can agree on is that they disagree.

“We have some very fundamental differences and nobody wants to compromise our own beliefs and/or process,” one juror’s note reads.

With a second major winter storm in less than a week forecast for Wednesday, three jurors begged to quit, saying they were physically and emotionally drained and could no longer continue.

The jury has deliberated a total of about 20 hours since they were given the case on March 1.

Cuomo, who has said he won’t comment on the trial until it’s over, was asked about the deadlock during a storm briefing conference call.

“On the Percoco trial, that will be a matter for the judge to handle,” Cuomo said.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau chief for the New York Public News Network, composed of a dozen newsrooms across the state. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.