Web posted on:
Thursday, May 06, 1999 5:02:03 PM EST

PONTIAC, Michigan (CNN) -- A jury of five women and four men deliberated about seven hours Thursday without reaching a verdict in the wrongful death trial against the talk show "The Jenny Jones Show."

Jury deliberations started shortly before 10 a.m. EDT Thursday in the wrongful-death lawsuit against the show. The panel will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday.

The civil trial is now in its fifth week.

The show says it is not to blame for the death of Scott Amedure, a gay man who was shot by a fellow guest after they taped an appearance on the talk show.

Jonathan Schmitz allegedly shot Amedure three days after they taped a show that involved same-sex secret crushes.

Amedure's parents, who are suing the show and its distributor, Warner Bros., contend a mentally unstable Schmitz was tricked by show producers into believing his secret admirer would be a female.

The suit maintains it was Schmitz's humiliation over the incident that led him to kill Amedure. Amedure's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, is asking for $71 million in damages.

Schmitz was convicted of murder in 1996 for Amedure's death but the verdict was thrown out on appeal. He awaits a retrial in August.

Amedure, left, and Schmitz as they appeared on an episode of "The Jenny Jones Show" that never aired

The Amedures' attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, is asking for $71.5 million in damages.

The civil trial is now in its fifth week.

The defendants claim they are not to blame for Amedure's death and that the show's producers had no way of knowing about Schmitz's mental problems.

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