Jury Resumes Deliberations for a Fourth Day on Amish Haircutting - WTRF 7 News Sports Weather - Wheeling Steubenville

Jury Resumes Deliberations for a Fourth Day on Amish Haircutting Attacks

CLEVELAND (AP) - -
There's still no verdict in the trial of 16 people accused of hate crimes in hair- and beard-cutting attacks against their fellow Amish.

Deliberations resume for a fourth day Wednesday in federal court in Cleveland.



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The case of 16 people accused in haircutting attacks against fellow Amish in Ohio is expected to be sent to the jury Thursday morning.

Jury deliberations are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in Cleveland.

The members of a breakaway Amish settlement are accused of hate crimes in what federal prosecutors say were attacks motivated by religious differences. They say the defendants cut off Amish men's beards and women's hair because the hair carries spiritual significance in their faith.

The defense acknowledges that the hair-cuttings took place and that crimes were committed, but that prosecutors were over-reacting by calling them hate-crimes. They told jurors to use common sense in deciding the verdict.

If convicted, all 16 defendants could face long prison terms.

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