The Nation - News from Jan. 29, 1989

Jurors in the sixth day of deliberations showed signs of voting to acquit accused child killer Joel Steinberg of murder and of considering a lesser charge of manslaughter. The jury in Manhattan sent out a note asking Acting Justice Harold Rothwax to repeat his instructions for reaching a verdict on manslaughter. Earlier last week, Rothwax told the jury it was not permitted to “consider” the less serious homicide charges until it reaches a unanimous decision to acquit Steinberg of murder. The jury deliberated until 7 p.m. without announcing a verdict and was to resume this morning. Steinberg, 47, a disbarred lawyer, was accused of fatally beating his illegally adopted 6-year-old daughter, Lisa. For a first-degree manslaughter conviction, the jury must find that Steinberg intended to cause serious physical injury without intending to kill Lisa--but that in the act of causing serious injury he caused her death.