LOS ANGELES — The trial of a group of alleged plotters who prosecutors said wanted to blow up Chicago’s 110-storey Sears Tower collapsed yesterday after a jury found one defendant not guilty and failed to reach verdicts on the remaining six. The mistrial represents a setback for the Bush administration in its self-proclaimed war on terror, particularly its intention to crack down on homegrown terrorist suspects. The jury in Miami found one defendant, Lyglenson Lemorin, not guilty of charges of conspiring to help foreign terrorist organisations including al-Qaida, and conspiring to blow up buildings and overthrow the US government. Article continues Following nine days of deliberation the jury sent a third note to the judge on Thursday saying: ‘We believe no further progress can be made’. After reading it in court, Judge Joan Lenard declared a mistrial. Prosecutors said that they would seek to retrial the six defendants next year, with jury selection set for January 7. The trial arose from the June 2006 arrests of the seven young men from the rundown Liberty City area of Miami. Prosecutors said the group boasted that it wanted to join al-Qaida on ‘a mission that would be […]