The jury in the Don Blankenship case was told to continue deliberating after telling the judge this morning that it “cannot agree” on a verdict.

U.S. District Judge Irene Berger said she received a note at about 11:30 a.m. from the jury that said, “How long do we deliberate? We cannot agree.”

Berger told the jurors that given the length of the trial, the number of witnesses and the limited amount of time they had so far deliberated, that she wanted them to continue their deliberations.

After giving the jury that order in open court, the judge released the eight women and four men for lunch shortly before noon.

Berger denied a request from defense lawyer Bill Taylor for a mistrial.