The white smoke went out at the Hugo Black federal courthouse in downtown Birmingham Friday afternoon. The jury in the fraud trial of deposed HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy is hopelessly deadlocked on all counts, meaning the case in on the verge of a hung jury and a mistrial. The judge sent them back with an Allen charge, but the likelyhood of a change in the next few days seems slim, experts say.

The AP reported it this way.

For the record, we had this story online before AP, the Birmingham News, the New York Times, or any of the Birmingham TV news stations - even before the Scrushy trial blogger.

And I hate to say we told you so, but I've being saying it since January: "All it takes is one" for a hung jury.

The question now becomes: Will the Bush Justice Department use more time and tax money trying the case again, letting other cases go by the wayside? Or will they give up the ghost and let Scrushy go free and maybe consider putting some of the former financial officers who faked the numbers in jail?

Stay tuned. We'll have more tonight from the inside of Birmingham's night life.