Was it any wonder that an apparently hopelessly deadlocked jury returned a guilty verdict after the judge kept the jury deliberating throughout a Saturday and talked of bringing the jury back for deliberations on Sunday and Christmas Eve day? It is more of a wonder — and a thankful one, at that — that a holdout juror revealed the irregularity of jury proceedings that produced the manslaughter guilty verdict against John H. White in Long Island.

Now, it is time for the judge to reverse Mr. White’s conviction, and to enable the prosecutor to decide whether to proceed with a retrial. Jon Katz.