There was little activity in Magistrate Court Monday, as jurors in retired V.I. Superior Court Judge Leon Kendall’s defamation lawsuit against the V.I. Daily News and two of its reporters spent a quiet but full day in deliberations, only to call it quits a little after 5 p.m.
The jury decided to pick up again early Tuesday morning, pushing deliberations into a fourth day.
It is unclear at this point when a verdict will come down.
The case is based on 17 of the newspaper’s articles — one, in particular, that says Kendall released Daniel Castillo, the man who has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2007 murder of 12-year-old Laquina Hennis, while he was pending trial despite Castillo’s previous "history of violence."
Kendall’s attorneys have argued, among other things, that no "history of violence" was ever presented to the judge.
Kendall spent most of Monday waiting in the hallway at Magistrate Court with his wife and attorneys, who speculated that the jury has really been "taking the time" to think about the case and mull over the evidence.
Otherwise, the only movements in the court were the steady comings and goings of judges and their clerks, along with the sounds of the metal detector going off as visitors entered through the front door.
