Jury Still Deliberating in Plague Expert Trial
A jury deliberated for a day without reaching a verdict on whether an expert on bubonic plague made false statements to the FBI and whether he illegally trafficked in the dread disease’s bacteria.
Deliberations will resume Monday. If convicted, Texas Tech University professor Thomas Butler could face life in prison.
Prosecutors alleged that Butler created a hoax when he reported in January that 30 vials containing plague were missing.
The defense says Butler, charged on a series of regulatory crimes, could be found guilty only if he acted in bad faith.
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