The Nation - News from Jan. 30, 1989

The New York jury deciding the fate of Joel Steinberg, accused of fatally beating his illegally adopted 6-year-old daughter, Lisa, finished its seventh day of deliberations after asking for a clarification on a lesser charge. The jury sent out a note asking for a clarification of the legal definition of “intent” and “serious physical injury,” both elements of the lesser charge of manslaughter. State Supreme Court Justice Harold Rothwax instructed jurors several times not to consider manslaughter unless they unanimously acquitted Steinberg, 47, of the more serious charge of second-degree murder. A similar note from the jurors the day before prompted one of Steinberg’s lawyers to suggest the jurors had acquitted his client of murder.