Mayor Marion Barry was convicted Friday on a single drug charge and acquitted on another. The judge declared a mistrial on 12 counts, including more serious perjury charges, after jurors reported they were deadlocked.
An elated Barry took what amounted to a victory lap around the courthouse grounds, surrounded by supporters chanting "four more years."It was a stunning end to a six-week trial that featured an FBI videotape of the mayor smoking crack cocaine in a sting operation.
Barry, who sat stonefaced when the single guilty verdict was announced, smiled broadly as U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson declared the mistrial. He turned to his attorney R. Kenneth Mundy, clasped his hand and threw his other arm around Mundy's shoulder. He then turned and hugged his press secretary and a supporter.
Barry insisted all along that he had been singled out by vindictive federal prosecutors. He said the government spent millions trying to convict him, and the case created racial tension in the nation's capital.
The jury found Barry guilty of charges that he possessed cocaine in November 1989 with longtime associate Doris Crenshaw. Crenshaw testified that she snorted cocaine with the mayor in her hotel room.
Barry was found not guilty of charges that he possessed cocaine on Sept. 7, 1989.
The jury was hung on the three most serious counts, felony charges of lying to a federal grand jury about his dealings with Charles Lewis, a convicted cocaine dealer who was one of the government's chief witnesses.
It also couldn't agree on a verdict on the cocaine possession charge stemming from the FBI sting operation. In the FBI videotape, Barry was seen smoking crack cocaine with former girlfriend Rasheeda Moore at the Vista Hotel on Jan. 18.
All told, Barry had been charged with 10 counts of cocaine possession, three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine and conceal its use.
As he left the courthouse, Barry was mobbed by supporters urging him to seek re-election. Barry had said that he would not run for a fourth term, but there has been speculation in recent days that he would change his mind and run as an independent.
U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens was heckled as he defended the prosecution of the mayor.
He said that on the single conviction, the jury had held "Mr. Barry accountable for his criminal conduct and he must now accept responsibility for that conduct."
He said he would review the case before deciding whether to seek a retrial. Jackson scheduled a hearing for Sept. 17.
The cocaine possession charge is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $100,000 fine.
Barry was released on his own recognizance.