An eighth day of deliberations has ended in the John Edwards trial.
Many believe the eight men and four women are deadlocked.
"There are so many different things for them to get hung up on, that trying to build a consensus toward a guilty verdict could be just a very challenging if not insurmountable task for this jury," says NBC legal analyst Kieran Shanahan.
The jury is trying to decide whether nearly a million dollars from two wealthy donors to keep Edwards' pregnant mistress, Reille Hunter, in hiding amounted to illegal campaign contributions donated during Edwards' failed race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
"Here you have a really simple indictment. It's not complicated in any way so there has to be some level of disagreement going on in the jury," says former federal prosecutor Solomon Wisenberg.
If the jury ends up deadlocked, then judge catherine eagles would be forced to declare a mistrial, which might bode well for Edwards.
"It's hard to imagine the federal government would bring this case again if this case winds up in a mistrial," predicts NBC legal analyst Hampton Dellinger.
Indicating they believe deliberations could extend beyond this week, several jurors have told the judge of scheduling conflicts that might interrupt deliberations next week.