Robert Kessler of Newsday has this mind-blowing article about the criminal trial of three former Symbol Technology executives in the USDC for the Eastern District of New York.  Apparently after a six-week trial and four days of deliberations, the jury presented the judge with a note stating "We are at a deadlock. We have exhausted all options."  The judge then granted a mistrial  at the request of the defense attorneys, and everyone basically went their separate ways.

Not so fast. 

The defense attorneys have now made a motion to bring the jurors back to court to be questioned as to whether they actually acquitted two of the defendants.  It seems that one of the defense attorneys has now spoken with seven of the twelve jurors, and they all concur that the jury had voted to acquit two of the three  defendants completely, and to acquit the third defendant of all charges except one!!

The article states that the prosecutors on the case are opposing the effort to recall the jury because

"unreported deliberations [outside the courtroom] can have no legal significance," the prosecutors said. A verdict counts legally only when a jury says so in open court, not afterward, the prosecutors said.

Notably, prosecutors reportedly concede that one of the defense attorneys asked the court if it would be appropriate to question the jury as to whether they had reached a verdict on any of the accused, but they argue that the defense attorney only did so "unambiguously" after the judge had granted the mistrial motion.