A jury is deadlocked and a judge has declared a mistrial in the trial of John Katehis, the 18-year-old Satan-worshiping hustler who admitted to the bloody slaying of radio newsman George Weber during a rough sex-for-cash-hookup gone wrong. After three days of deliberations and prior indications the jury was at an impasse, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Neil Firetog ruled the panel was hopelessly deadlocked, the Daily News and Gay City News report.
"One juror held out for an acquittal, with 11 others wanting to convict the 18-year-old of second-degree murder. 'She was adamant about intent,' said Darryl Turner, one of the eleven, referring to the juror who wanted an acquittal. 'We couldn’t get the one holdout to change her mind.' Katehis faced a single count of second -degree murder in the 2009 killing. That count required that the prosecution prove that Katehis intended to kill the 47-year-old Weber when he stabbed him 50 times.
Closing arguments ended Monday after the one week trial. Katehis plead not guilty to the murder of the former ABC News Radio personality, claiming he acted in "self-defense" when he repeatedly stabbed Weber in his Brooklyn apartment in March 2009.
Defense attorneys portrayed the slain newsman as a drunk predator of teenaged boys who "lured" the then-16-year-old under false pretenses. Prosecutors say the evidence shows otherwise and that Katehis was a hustler and a cold blooded killer. Although Katehis told police that he answered Weber's Craigslist ad offering $60 for rough sex, prosecutors proved that it was actually the Queens teenager who offered oral sex, among other services, in Internet ads aimed at men.
The Brooklyn district attorney will retry the case and John Katehis will remain in jail. Defense attorney Jeffrey Schwartz has petitioned for a bail hearing to hopes to get his client out of jail before a new trial begins.
Petitioned for bail? Let him back on the streets to wait for a new trail?
I'd say that's highly unlikely, but in light of a juror not being sure that stabbing someone 50 times was proof of intent to kill, anything is possible.
Posted by: Taylor Siluwé | 28 October 2010 at 21:55