NEWSJury Vote for Travolta Extortion Trial Revealed
Nov. 5 2009, Published 11:31 a.m. ET
The jury in the John Travolta extortion trial had the votes to convict both Pleasant Bridgewater and Tarino Lightbourne of extortion, TMZ reports. The vote was six to three in favor of conviction, and in the Bahamas it only takes six votes for conviction.
The judge declared a mistrial because of jury misconduct, and no further announcement has been made in regards to a retrial.
"John was very disappointed because he wanted closure," Michael Ossi, John's lawyer, told TMZ.
Ossi said John will "fully cooperate" with prosecutors in the future and wants another trial, in the Bahamas or the U.S. There has been no discussion about a plea bargain.
The nine-person jury was selected in September in the Bahamas for the trial involving former Bahamas senator Bridgewater and paramedic Lightbourne, who allegedly tried to extort $25 million from John with a document relating to the death of his son, Jett Travolta, according to the Associated Press.
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The two defendants are charged with threatening to reveal a document that would have released emergency responders from liability in Jett’s death — which ended up not even being a factor as the family did not refuse an ambulance at the time. Jett, who had a history of seizures, died at 16 at the family’s vacation home on Jan. 2.
