Update: The jury in the James Botti case stopped deliberating Friday at about 4 p.m.
Prior to leaving the court, Judge Charles Haight told jurors not to talk about the case or read articles relating to the case.
The jury is scheduled to start deliberating again Monday at 9:30 a.m.
Botti, 46, a Shelton developer, is charged by the federal government with conspiracy to structure cash deposits, structuring and two counts of making false statements to the IRS.
His trail started Monday. Closing arguments happened Thursday.
Friday, the jury was given instructions for its deliberations for about two hours in the morning and then began deliberating at about noon.
By 12:50, the first note was sent out of the jury room.
“Can we have the testimony of 1. Kelly Botti and 2. Charles Cooney,” Judge Charles Haight read into the record.
Kelly Botti is Botti’s ex-wife, who testified about seeing piles of cash on the couple’s bed at their Maple Street home. Cooney is the IRS agent who first interviewed Botti about his alleged cash on hand, and to whom the alleged false statements in his charges were made.
The jurors specified that they wanted to hear the audio transcript, if available, and if not, to read the transcript.
After an hour of listening to the audio of Kelly Botti’s testimony, some jurors leaning forward and closing their eyes, the jury foreman asked Haight if they could take a break – and if they had to continue to listen.
Haight dismissed them for a break with instructions to determine the specific portions of the testimony they needed to hear, if it was not the whole thing.
Jurors responded with another note at 2:22 p.m.
They wanted to hear about Kelly Botti’s discussion with James Botti and his father Peter Botti, in which she testified that she explained to Peter Botti what a currency transaction report was.
The report is sent to the IRS by financial institutions if a cash transaction of more than $10,000 is conducted. The charges against Botti allege that he tried to avoid those reports by “structuring” cash transactions into amounts just under that threshold.
By 3:50 another note was sent out of the jury room.
“We will need to return on Monday,” the note said, asking for permission to adjourn for the day.
“It’s been a long week for you, I know,” Haight said, ordering the jurors to not talk about or read about the case, and ordering them to “have a very pleasant weekend.”
