Oregon Standoff Trial Latest: Jury Finishes First Day of Deliberations with No Verdict

The jury deliberating the fate of seven people charged in connection with the 41-day armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge finished their first day of deliberations on Thursday without reaching a verdict. They will resume their work on Monday morning.

The jurors have their work cut out for them. They have to sift through almost six weeks of testimony, which culminated with three days of closing arguments - the prosecution, the defense lawyers, and then a final rebuttal from prosecutors.

The main charge against the defendant against the seven accuses them of conspiring to prevent federal employees from doing their jobs.

Defense lawyers argue that there was no conspiracy, that the defendants hadn't even thought about the federal employees; that they were focused on protesting the inaction of government officials that they believed had ignored their issues.

The defense tried to plant doubts in the minds of the jurors, arguing that FBI informants - nine of whom remain unidentified - played a larger role and may have been responsible for some of the actions being laid at the feet of the defendants.

Lawyers for two of the defendants - Jeff Banta and David Fry - argued that they had never even met the men charged as the leaders of the occupation.

Delivering a final word for the prosecution, assistant United States Attorney Craig Gabriel reminded jurors of what the prosecution says is the heart of the case - that the refuge did not belong to the defendants yet they took it over and treated it like it was their property.

Photo courtesy Multnomah County Sheriff's Office