Jurors in Broderick Trial Rehear Her Testimony on the Slayings

Jurors in the second murder trial of Elisabeth Anne (Betty) Broderick on Monday asked to review her entire testimony concerning the killing of her ex-husband and his second wife. No verdict was reached.

Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan announced at an open hearing that jurors had requested transcripts of testimony surrounding the events of Nov. 5, 1989, when Broderick, 44, is accused of murdering Daniel T. Broderick III, 44, and Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28.

Whelan refused to allow the jurors to read transcripts--a decision he reached in private discussions with prosecutors Kerry Wells and Paul Burakoff and defense attorney Jack Earley--and instead ordered the court reporter to read the testimony aloud in the jury room.

She did so for the next two hours, with no one present but the jurors. When she finished about 4:25 p.m., the jurors left. They had begun deliberating Thursday afternoon, and on Monday they deliberated all day, taking only a brief recess for lunch.

In last year’s trial, jurors deliberated for four days before announcing they were hopelessly deadlocked. The hung jury resulted from 10 jurors favoring a murder conviction and two holding out for manslaughter.

After Monday’s hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Wells left the courtroom, smiled at reporters and said, “This is a sign that they’re focusing in the right area--on the events of Nov. 5.”

Defense attorney Earley said he has “given up trying to figure out what notes (from the jury) mean. You never know . . . but it is an unexpected request.”

Earley said that, in last year’s deliberations, jurors asked to rehear testimony Broderick gave concerning a man from whom she had bought coffee before driving to her ex-husband’s home in Marston Hills, where the killings occurred.

In last year’s trial, Wells chose not to ask Broderick any questions about what happened in the bedroom where the killings took place. In this year’s cross-examination of Broderick, Wells spent more than an hour on that topic.