The prosecution and defense in the trial of former Jack Abramoff associate Kevin Ring called for a mistrial today after the jury indicated for the second time that it was unable to reach a verdict on seven of the eight charges. The judge declined to call a mistrial and instructed the jury to continue deliberating.

"We do not see how we can reach a verdict," the jury's note to Judge Ellen Huvelle read. The jury sent a similar note Tuesday afternoon indicating it had reached a consensus only on one count of honest services wire fraud, but it did not reveal the verdict on that count.

After reviewing the note, attorneys for Ring and the Department of Justice agreed that it was time to release the jurors. In the case of a hung jury, a mistrial is declared and the case can be reheard.

"Let them go. ... Declare a mistrial," Andrew Wise, Ring's attorney, said. "This jury has been at it for an extended period."

"Take the verdict [on the one count], declare a mistrial... and get another trial moving as quickly as possible," prosecutor Nathaniel Edmonds suggested.

Huvelle, however, is not ready to dismiss the jury after more than three weeks of trial and more than a week of jury deliberations. Today is the jury's seventh day of deliberations, but that is not an extraordinary amount of time "given the length of the trial, the amount of evidence and the complications of the case," Huvelle said.

"I am going to ask you to continue to deliberate," she told the jury.