Mr. Andreotti, 83, was acquitted three years ago but prosecutors appealing that verdict are seeking a 10-year prison sentence.
And trials which gave a favourable verdict are about twice as likely to be published as trials giving unfavourable results.
The disputes and personality clashes that inevitably arise when 12 people are locked in a room and told to reach a unanimous verdict are inherently intriguing.
Yet federal investigators, apparently skeptical of the verdict, are also investigating whether there was jury tampering in connection with the trial in Galveston, said one person who had been interviewed by the authorities.
The tired old warhorses — Holden and Durning in "Network" and "Dog Day," Paul Newman in "The Verdict" — are like creatures from the world of Kazan and Clifford Odets who have somehow survived into the age of Travis Bickle.
The selected details that a judge or jury may pick up on, miss or distort in arriving at an opinion or verdict are often unfathomable, making the trial attorney's situation akin to that of Socrates at Delphi.
