Libby jury seems to be settling in

Jurors in the perjury trial of ex-White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby expect to deliberate into next week.

They asked U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton for a dictionary and more office supplies and asked to leave early today for the weekend. Walton denied the request for the dictionary but told jurors they could take off at 2 p.m.

“So I assume they will not have a verdict tomorrow either,” Walton told lawyers Thursday as jurors finished their seventh day of deliberations.

Before bringing the jurors into court, Walton advised lawyers they “will not be happy about coming into court because they don’t think they are dressed appropriately.”

He said that was why they decided not to come into court Monday for a brief discussion and was how “I knew there wasn’t a verdict” coming Thursday.

About half were wearing blue jeans. Most smiled broadly when Walton granted their request to leave early today.

It appeared the seven women and four men were making their own visual aids to help sort out the complicated case.

Jurors had asked for a large flip chart, masking tape, sticky notes and pictures of the witnesses almost immediately after beginning deliberations last week.

Late Wednesday afternoon, they emerged to ask the judge for easel-sized pages to stick on walls.

Walton said he denied the dictionary request -- not an uncommon one for juries -- because definitions of common words can have legal implications.

He told jurors that if they had questions, they could ask him directly.

Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is accused of obstruction of justice and lying to FBI agents and a grand jury investigating the 2003 leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, wife of a prominent Iraq war critic.