DAVENPORT, Iowa — A Scott County jury will resume deliberations on Friday morning in the James Thiel manslaughter case.
Thiel is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter for his role in a Mississippi River boat crash that killed two other people on Aug. 16, 2020. The boaters killed were Dr. Anita Pinc and her fiance Craig Verbeke.
Lawyers on both sides reviewed the evidence with the jury after the judge read his instructions to the jury earlier in the afternoon.
After hearing the closing arguments, the jury was handed the case for deliberation at about 4 p.m. Thursday.
"And that crash caused the death of Craig Verbeke and Anita Pinc. The evidence and the testimony presented in this case prove that beyond a reasonable doubt," said Amy Devine, the assistant Scott County state's attorney.
"We have an urge to blame and an urge to find responsibility, fix that blame, but we can't as I reminded you at the outset, be blinded by that sympathy and that urge to find fault," said Leon Spies, Thiel's defense lawyer.
The jury is set to return to deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday morning.