Jury in Jeffrey Marsalis rape trial showing strain

Jury deliberations in the rape trial of Jeffrey Marsalis were cut short this afternoon after angry shouting erupted among jurors.

At one point, one of the jurors yelled, "Shut the ... up!", according to court staff.

A sheriff's deputy and court personnel went into the jury room to restore order and took five jurors out for a timely smoke break.

After the jurors returned, the jury deliberated for only a few minutes before the members informed court staff about 3:15 p.m. that they wanted to conclude for the day.

The jury will resume deliberations this morning.

It was the third day of deliberations after 21/2 weeks of testimony in the trial of Marsalis, 34, who is accused of drugging and raping seven women he lured by posing as a doctor, secret agent and astronaut. He met six of the women on Match.com.

The jurors asked Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Geroff questions Friday that indicated they were split over the guilt or innocence of Marsalis, who faces a cumulative life sentence if convicted.

If he is found not guilty, he faces another drugging and rape case in Sun Valley, Idaho. He is alleged to have assaulted a woman in October 2005 while he was awaiting trial here in a similar drugging and rape case. He was later found not guilty in the previous Philadelphia case.

While in the ski-resort town of Sun Valley, he joined the local fire department as a probationary firefighter in the summer of 2005, said Fire Chief Jeffrey Carnes. Marsalis' mother, Darlene Jevne, owns several condominiums in Sun Valley and a nearby 400-acre ranch.

"He said he was going to be living here," Carnes recalled.

At that time, he was out on bail in Philadelphia.

"He disappeared shortly after August," said Carnes.

Marsalis remained in Sun Valley until he was arrested in the alleged rape there and then returned to Philadelphia to face rape charges here.