Cynthia Tucker, an editorial writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has a provocative column (here) entitled Scrushy Tries O.J. Defense.  She asserts that Scrushy’s defense is designed to "try to pass yourself off as a black man who is the victim of government persecution."  According to Tucker, "Strange as it may seem, the strategy may be working."  Racial issues related to juries are certainly in the news today, with the Supreme Court’s decision in Miller-El v. Dretke (here) that reinvigorates the Batson analysis of peremptory challenges based on race or sex.  The Scrushy jury had a quiet day of deliberations on Monday after taking a long break last week, and the leisurely pace of the deliberations has certainly stretched things out (see AJC story here, with a quote from blog co-editor Ellen Podgor on the jury’s schedule).  While one would expect some resolution of the case — even a hung jury — sometime soon now that deliberations have stretched into a fourth week, there’s no way to know whether the Allen charge has started to move them toward a verdict.  Perhaps this jury is like a watched pot.  (ph)