No verdict, but lots of intrigue at trial
by Stephanie Grace - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Among the arguments U.S. District Court Judge Ivan Lemelle made as he pushed the Renee Gill Pratt jury to reach a verdict last week was that the trial had been "expensive in time, effort and money." His implication, it seemed, was that the whole endeavor would be a waste if the jury were to deadlock, as it ultimately did. Yet although the government fell one immovable juror short of a conviction, you could argue that it actually got quite a bit for its investment. For one, it got Gill Pratt's co-defendant Betty Jefferson. True, her testimony against Gill Pratt should land her a light sentence for looting several government-funded charities, but don't forget that until she entered her own guilty plea, Jefferson was still a powerful Orleans Parish assessor. This prosecution is what finally forced her out of government, something that her own appalling testimony and her clear lack of contrition proved was overdue. Based on everything we heard, it's hard to believe prosecutors wouldn't have gotten Betty's brother and Gill Pratt's longtime boyfriend Mose, too, had he been there. Instead, Mose Jefferson's already in prison on a separate conviction and suffering from terminal cancer, so he was excused from the trial.