GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) 鈥� The third day of deliberations ended Wednesday without a verdict in a trial that centers on a plot to .
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker urged jurors to keep their thoughts about the case private when away from the courthouse.
鈥淲e're obviously at a delicate time,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou're in the midst of deliberations. You now know a lot more about the case than you ever expected to know and a lot more about each other鈥檚 views than you ever expected to know.鈥�
are charged with a kidnapping conspiracy. Three of them also face additional charges, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, namely an explosive.
The trial has covered 18 days since March 8, including 13 days of testimony.
Prosecutors said the conspiracy against Whitmer was fueled by anti-government extremism and anger over her COVID-19 restrictions. The men trained with a crudely built 鈥渟hoot house鈥� to replicate her vacation home in September 2020, according to testimony.
Fox and Croft, traveled to Elk Rapids, Michigan, that same weekend to see the location of the governor's lakeside property and a nearby bridge, evidence showed. Harris and Caserta have been described as 鈥渟oldiers鈥� in the scheme.
Another man, Ty Garbin, who pleaded guilty, said the goal was to get Whitmer before the fall election and create to create a civil war and stop Joe Biden from winning the presidency.
Defense lawyers attacked the government's investigation and the use of a crucial informant, Dan Chappel. They claimed Chappel was the real leader, and keeping the group on edge while recording them for months.
Croft is from Bear, Delaware, while the others are from Michigan.
Whitmer, a Democrat, rarely talks publicly about the plot, though she referred to 鈥渟urprises鈥� during her term that seemed like 鈥渟omething out of fiction鈥� when she on March 17.
She has for fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists like those charged in the case.
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Find AP鈥檚 full coverage of the Whitmer kidnap plot trial at:
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White reported from Detroit.
John Flesher And Ed White, The Associated Press
