At the April trial of Anthony Lanza for driving the getaway car in a 1998 murder near St. Petersburg, Fla., the jury was deadlocked, 11-1, and Lanza, certain that it was 11-1 for acquittal, waived his right (against the advice of his lawyer) to a unanimous decision, which, if he had read the jury correctly, would have meant that he would go free. The judge accepted Lanza's waiver, but the verdict happened to be 11-1 for conviction. Lanza (the son of a former, alleged Genovese family "capo") was sentenced to life in prison and immediately challenged the outcome as unfair. [Tampa Tribune, 4-30-02] ]
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