LONDON (AP) — Britain’s epic tabloid phone-hacking trial
ended Wednesday with a hung jury on two final counts — and a judge’s
rebuke for Prime Minister David Cameron, whose televised comments about
the case while it was still underway almost scuttled proceedings.
Cameron
is already under pressure for his ties to the only person convicted at
the trial, former News of the World tabloid editor — and ex-Downing
Street communications director — Andy Coulson.
Coulson’s
conviction for conspiracy to hack phones was also unwelcome news for
Rupert Murdoch, his former employer, and raises the possibility of a
corporate prosecution for Murdoch’s media behemoth, News Corp.
Senior
Murdoch executives have already been questioned by U.K. police
investigating wrongdoing at his British tabloids and the Guardian
newspaper reported Wednesday that detectives want to question Murdoch
"under caution" — meaning as a potential suspect.
Neither the police nor News Corp. would comment on that report.
On
Tuesday, a jury at London’s Old Bailey unanimously convicted Coulson of
conspiring to hack phones. Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive
of Murdoch’s British newspapers, was acquitted on charges related to
phone hacking, bribing officials and obstructing police. Her husband
Charlie Brooks and three of her former employees also were cleared.
Media industry analyst Claire Enders said Murdoch and his executives would likely be relieved, even with
the mixed verdicts.
"The
conviction of Andy Coulson has definitely created the possibility of a
corporate prosecution," Enders said. "But that is a small worry compared
to what would have occurred if Rebekah Brooks had been found guilty.
The charges of which she was acquitted, in particular perverting the
course of justice, would have been difficult to shift from her ultimate
boss."
Judge John Saunders ended the trial on Wednesday — the
139th day of proceedings — after jurors said they could not agree on
whether Coulson and ex-News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman were
guilty on two counts of paying police officers for royal phone
directories. Prosecutors plan to announce Monday whether they will seek a
retrial on those charges.
Coulson, who served as Cameron’s
communications chief between 2007 and 2011, faces up to two years in
jail on the hacking charge. He is due to be sentenced next week, along
with five former News of the World staffers who pleaded guilty before
the trial began.
The eight-month trial — one of the longest and
most expensive criminal cases in British history — was triggered by
revelations that the scandal-hungry News of the World had routinely
eavesdropped on the voicemails of politicians, celebrities and others in
the public eye.
The resulting furor led Murdoch to shut down the
168-year-old newspaper and triggered police investigations in which
dozens of journalists, police officers and other officials have been
arrested.
The Metropolitan Police says those investigations have
cost more than 32 million pounds ($54 million) and identified 5,500
potential hacking victims.
News Corp. has spent more than $500
million on costs related to the scandal, including payments to hundreds
of people whose phones were hacked.
The trial of Brooks and
Coulson — once powerful insiders with close ties to Cameron and other
top political figures —
drew intense interest in Britain.
Coulson’s
lawyers repeatedly sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that
their client could not receive a fair trial given the vast amount of
speculation about the case. Their final attempt was spurred by Cameron’s
televised apology Tuesday for hiring Coulson in 2007 — after Goodman
and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were briefly jailed for hacking
the phones of royal aides.
"It is astonishing, we say
unprecedented, for a prime minister to make public comments of such a
crucial juncture in trial proceeding," said Coulson’s lawyer, Timothy
Langdale.
The judge did not throw out the case but admonished
Cameron, saying it was "unsatisfactory, so far as justice and the rule
of law are concerned … when politicians regard it as open season."
In
the House of Commons, Cameron apologized again for his "wrong decision"
in hiring Coulson but opposition leader Ed Miliband said an apology was
not good enough.
"This is about his character, his judgment and
the warnings he ignored," Miliband said of Cameron. "For four years the
prime minister’s hand-picked closest adviser was a criminal and brought
disgrace to Downing Street."