Juror in Hobo super gang trial asks to get off jury

The first full day of deliberations in the trial of Chicago’s so-called “super gang” ended with a note from a frustrated juror Thursday.

“Judge, how can I get off this jury? Maybe one of the alternates can take my place?” the note read.

The note included an addendum from one of his fellow jury members, complaining to the judge that the first juror “thinks this is a waste of time.”

That note comes after jurors have listened to more than three months of testimony about the reign of terror that federal prosecutors say the Hobos street gang brought down on the South and West sides between 2004 and 2013.

The gang has been tied to nine murders, and most of the six defendants on trial in the racketeering case face a potential life sentence.

The jurors were handed the case Wednesday after four days of closing arguments.

U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. questioned the complaining juror after the others went home Thursday. The anonymous juror said there is a wide difference of opinion among jurors on what the verdict should be, and he doesn’t want to sit through deliberations.

The man said he tried to listen to his fellow jurors, but, “what they had to say doesn’t make any sense to me ”

The man added that the deliberations seemed to be “a waste of my time and a waste of theirs, too.”

The man was cautioned by the judge not to reveal any of the individual jurors’ opinions during his questioning.

The judge told the juror to return to the federal courthouse on Tuesday where he’ll learn his fate. The courthouse is closed Monday.