The jury for the trial of Kermit Gosnell has told the judge that the panel is deadlocked on two counts in the trial.  However, since the jury had to consider more than 200 counts against Gosnell and a co-defendant, this may be an indication that the jury has already concluded all of its other work:

A Philadelphia jury says it’s deadlocked on two counts in the murder trial of a longtime abortion provider.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell is accused of killing a patient and four babies allegedly born alive and then killed with scissors.

The counts that divided the jury were not announced Monday. In addition to the five murder charges, Gosnell also faces more than 200 charges of violating abortion law. Prosecutors say he performed illegal, third-term abortions and failed to counsel women 24 hours in advance.

LifeNews’s Steven Ertelt adds his thoughts:

Given the number of charges Gosnell faces, and the fact that Gosnell has a co-defendant the jury is considering for conviction as well, the jury make take a longer period of time to arrive at a verdict on each of the 250-plus charges.

Most of the focus in the murder trial of abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell is on the murder charges he faces for killing babies in abortion-infanticides and for killing a woman in a botched abortion.

But Gosnell faces more than 200 charges related to violating Pennsylvania state law that requires him to provide women with informed consent 24 hours prior to the abortion. Gosnell is charged with breaking that law by not giving women information about abortion risks and alternatives 24 hours prior to the abortion.

Eight other defendants who are former staffers of Gosnell’s Philadelphia abortion clinic have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges and are awaiting sentencing.

Reporter JD Mullane, who has been one of the few covering the trial in-depth, offers a few thoughts on the development, and some important context:

Judge Minehart will give #Gosnell jury a "Spencer charge," I.e. implore them to reach a verdict, though not violate their conscious.

— jd mullane (@jdmullane) May 13, 2013

If #Gosnell jury remains hung on the two counts, judge can declare a mistrial, but accept verdicts on all other counts.

— jd mullane (@jdmullane) May 13, 2013

Dr Kermit #Gosnell faces 1st degree murder in deaths of four babies, and 3rd degree murder in death of patient Karnamaya Mongar.

— jd mullane (@jdmullane) May 13, 2013

That context is the most interesting.  The jury has apparently reached some agreement on at least three of the murder counts — which way, no one knows, but not all of those counts have them split.  After almost two weeks, the jury seems to have answers for 99% or more of the charges.  If they can’t agree on two of the 200+ charges, a mistrial won’t derail the verdicts and accountability for Gosnell and his crew.

Given the likelihood that the judge will ask them to keep working for a while longer on the last two, I’d expect a verdict announcement by the end of the week, possibly sooner.  We’ll see if Gosnell’s smiles and laughter during the trial and court appearances during deliberations were justified.