Bombing Trial Jury Deliberating

Jurors in Spokane’s bombing trial could not reach a verdict Monday in their second full day of deliberations.

They’ll resume in U.S. District Court this morning on the anniversary of the first Spokane Valley bombings and robbery.

Robert S. Berry, 42; Charles H. Barbee, 45; and Verne Jay Merrell, 51, are charged with 12 felonies in connection with pipe bombings and bank robberies in the Valley last year.

Prosecutors contend the white separatists dropped a pipe bomb last April 1 outside the Valley offices of The Spokesman-Review minutes before bombing and robbing a U.S. Bank branch. The men also are accused of bombing a Planned Parenthood clinic July 12 moments before robbing the same bank.

Defense attorneys contend other men sharing their clients’ beliefs committed the crimes.

The Sandpoint men have admitted in court that they are guilty of four charges stemming from their arrest in Union Gap, Wash., last October. They were caught in stolen vehicles with illegal hand grenades and machine guns.

If convicted of all charges, the men face mandatory life sentences and up to $3 million in fines.

, DataTimes