The judge in the Brandon McInerney trial has ordered jurors to continue deliberating "even though they have been unable to reach a verdict" despite repeated attempts, report the Los Angeles Times and Ventura County Star.
Judge Charles Campbell told the jury to deliberate further and come back at 2PM. If they can't reach a verdict by then, the judge said he would declare a mistrial.
The jury foreman said it didn't seem like more votes or deliberation would change the outcome. The trial lasted eight weeks and the jury has been deliberating for about 15 hours. The jury got the case on Friday, but several days they deliberated for only two to three hours.
If the jury can't reach a decision and a mistrial is declared, the Ventura County District Attorney's office could re-file the murder charges against McInerney or they could offer McInerney a plea deal to avoid another lengthy trial. Previous offers of 25-years to life were rejected by McInerney's lawyers because of the "to life" part.
McInerney shot his 15-year-old gay classmate Lawrence King twice in the head at point-blank range in an Oxnard classroom in February 2008. More than 30 students witnessed the shooting. The trial was moved to Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley because of pretrial publicity in Ventura County.
Witnesses have testified that King's "feminine attire" and gender identity was upsetting some students and faculty at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard. The defense has portrayed King as sexually "aggressive" and suggested that McInerney was "provoked."
McInerney is being tried as an adult for the murder. The state also alleges McInerney had close ties to white supremacists, which has led to a hate crime charge. Jurors can consider first-degree, second-degree and manslaughter charges. McInerney faces up to 53 years to life in prison if convicted of first degree murder.
All decisions must be unanimous or the jury is hung.
Rod 2.0's complete coverage on Lawrence King HERE.
This make me absolutely sick to my stomach, and why I personally have no faith whatsoever in the "justice" system. This animal should be put away for life, no questions.
Posted by: Nuneuro | 01 September 2011 at 17:12
A mistrial would be a GROSS Miscarriage of Justice! Anything other than a guilty verdict would be SHAMEFUL!!
Posted by: Isis | 01 September 2011 at 17:25
What's to deliberate, It's premeditated murder plain and simple.
Posted by: gb | 01 September 2011 at 18:25
The only system worse than the jury system is all the rest. Damnit!
Posted by: DFS | 01 September 2011 at 18:32
This is really sad. A child's life is gone, and he gets no justice. He has been vilified in the court room, and made to look like this was his punishment for defying gender conformance.
Things like this have a way of working out.
Posted by: Zambos27 | 01 September 2011 at 19:33
No DFS, the jury system is rotten to it's core. It's a total joke. It's populist. You need a judge who has studied the law for years..who can come to a verdict based on the letter of the law. Not "average" people who get influenced by BS sentiments. Call me elitist if you want, I don't care. You need smart and educated people to run a company, a country..or come to a verdict. Not this joke of a juror system.
Posted by: Byron Monte | 01 September 2011 at 19:47
How much premeditation, and how many eyewitnesses, must there be before a jury calls the execution-style shooting of a gay person of color "Murder"?
Posted by: Nathan James | 01 September 2011 at 21:04
How long will it be before another scumbag attempts to shoot a LGBT of color and we see this disastrous event repeat itself. Black, Latino and other communities of color who are the GHEY seem to have little value to larger society.
I sh!t you not, it's ALWAYS scary to think you can find yourself in a situation where you wound up dead and SOCIETY would have no remorse, no compassion, or empathy for your death. THAT'S my greatest fear, especially since my safety is one of the reasons why I'm in the closet.
Posted by: Kevin P. | 01 September 2011 at 21:42
Sad, but not shocking. I had a feeling this was going to happen.
Posted by: Me | 02 September 2011 at 09:29
Leaving the racial dynamics aside (if McInerney were black, I have no doubt that this jury would have voted to convict on first degree murder, regardless of the ethnicity of the victim)
Do y'all think that the prosecution should have gone for a full blown trial as a juvenile, in hindsight?
(FTR, I don't exactly have an opinion on this other than the fact that prosecutors and the general would not even debate as to whether a black kid should be tried as an adult...I'm thinking of that black teen in Florida years ago that murdered someone over a playstation...he was the same age as McInerney, I believe)
Posted by: Chitown Kev | 03 September 2011 at 09:41
@Byron "You need a judge who has studied the law for years..who can come to a verdict based on the letter of the law"
because of course judge's aren't subject to biases and undue influences. Ive studied comparative law and stand by my statement.
Posted by: DFS | 03 September 2011 at 14:31