State Sen. Jane Orie and sister Janine. Bob Donaldson/PG photo

Sorry for lack of posts this afternoon: we were chasing Orie reaction. Here's some updates to the Jim O'Toole story posted below, as well as some photo/video content. Lots more in tomorrow's paper/blog/etc.

From Jim:

Judge Manning ordered deliberations halted and the documents retrieved from the jury room. He ordered that a forensic document analyst be brought in to examine the papers.

Ms. Pavlot had testified during the trial that she didn't recognize the documents, or some of the notations on the documents, though most were purported to be messages between the senator and herself.

A couple of hours later, or shortly before 3 p.m., Judge Manning called jurors back into his courtroom, told them a "fraud had been perpetrated," and dismissed them without further explanation.

He said the jury would "read in the newspapers" what had transpired before he declared the mistrial.

No new trial date had been set for Sen. Orie and her co-defendant, her sister, Janine Orie.

Janine Orie's attorney, James DePasquale, asked Judge Manning to allow the jury to continue deliberating in her part of the case, but he refused, saying the two cases were "too closely interrelated" to allow one to go on after the other was dismissed.