Arkansas Times: “Federal prosecutors plan to retry former lobbyist and political fundraiser Gilbert Baker on bribery and other charges after a mistrial earlier this month.
Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. on Friday set the retrial to begin in Little Rock on Oct. 4.
On Aug. 12, a jury on its fifth day of deliberations acquitted Baker, a former state senator from Conway and former chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, of one count of conspiracy. The jury deadlocked on eight other charges, including one count of bribery and seven of wire fraud.
In its notice to the court Thursday, the U.S. attorney’s office stated only that it intended to retry Baker and did not elaborate on what may have led prosecutors to that decision. The office had earlier sought and been granted permission to interview jurors who heard from the first trial who were willing to discuss the matter. Such interviews could have given prosecutors information on how jurors were divided on the case and why….Prosecutors contend Baker, 64, was the middleman in an alleged plot in 2013 to bribe former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Mike Maggio on behalf of Michael Morton, a wealthy nursing home owner and campaign financier from Fort Smith. Maggio pleaded guilty to bribery in 2015 and is serving a 10-year prison sentence. Morton has not been charged and denies wrongdoing.”