Jury deliberates $200M Indiana fraud trial

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal jury began deliberations Wednesday morning in the fraud trial of an Indianapolis businessman and two others who prosecutors claim raided an Ohio finance company after they bought it, bilking thousands of mostly elderly investors out of more than $200 million.

That came after U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson denied a request from Tim Durham’s attorney for a mistrial.

Tompkins argued that another defense lawyer went too far in his remarks to the jury Tuesday by asserting that there actually had been a fraud scheme, which Tompkins has repeatedly denied. William Dazey, who is representing Durham’s business partner James F. Cochran, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the mistrial motion was fair but was based on a possible misunderstanding of what he said.

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