"Conrad Black Verdict Expected Today"

Says Edward Genson, Black's lawyer after the jury sent a note to the judge saying they were deadlocked on one or more charges.

"Some notes from juries are meaningless, this was a bombshell," CTV legal analyst Steven Skurka said Wednesday.

"We know a number of things: the jury has decided the vast majority of the counts, it appears they have one or a couple of counts left to go."

The betting markets on this are dead and have been for a while. The intrade.com contracts never had enough volume to be reliable but the ftpredict.com All.Charges contact showed the markets belief that Conrad Black would not be convicted on all charges.

The odds looked better for Black the longer that trial went on as it became clear how weak the prosecutions case was. Good luck Mr. Black!