Confused Whitewater Jurors Ask For Help

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (AllPolitics, May 20) -- The Whitewater jury, now in its third day of deliberation, is finding the whole matter pretty confusing.

Jurors have asked U.S. District Judge George Howard to clarify which of the 21 charges against the defendants relate to specific financial transations in the complex case. The nine women and three men also requested an index of the nearly 700 exhibits presented in the fraud case against Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and Jim and Susan McDougal, former business partners of President Bill Clinton.

"They are asking for help, they need help and we are going to give it to them," Howard told reporters. Though defense attorneys initially objected to providing an index, they later acquiesced to a "neutral and objective," listing.

The defendants are on trial for defrauding the government of some $3 million in federally-backed loans during the 1980s.

Related Stories:

• Whitewater Jury Recesses For The Weekend -- May 17, 1996
• Whitewater Deliberations -- May 16, 1996

Related Sites:

• Whitewater 101: A Backgrounder From CNN Interactive
• TIME Daily's Whitewater Special (For Windows, Netscape 2.0 Users Only)

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