excalibur
Diamond Member
- Mar 19, 2015
- 29,405
- 59,600
- 2,290
Seriously? Yep.
Sounds as if one or two nutters managed to get onto the jury.
www.theepochtimes.com
Sounds as if one or two nutters managed to get onto the jury.
Jurors have deadlocked in the trial for a troubled Uber driver accused of lighting a blaze in the Santa Monica Mountains that investigators say led to one of the most destructive fires in U.S. history.
Jurors told U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang on Thursday they were unable to come to a unanimous verdict. They’re expected to return the following day.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, is accused of starting a fire on Jan. 1, 2025, which prosecutors say later grew to become the deadly Palisades Fire. He is facing three counts of arson related to the destruction of federal property.
“We have people on both sides who are dead set, unwavering and unwilling to change their opinion. We are at a standstill. We are unsure how to proceed,” the jury wrote in a note to the judge, which was read aloud in court.
Hwang sent a note to the jury asking if there was anything the court could do to assist its deliberations, a step below an “Allen charge” or “dynamite charge,” which involves further instruction from a judge urging the jury to come to a unanimous decision and is considered a final, high-pressure effort to force an agreement.
Shortly thereafter, the jury responded with a note reading, “There is nothing the court can do to assist the jury in deliberations. Additional instruction or a rereading of the testimony would not help in deliberations. Unfortunately we cannot reach a unanimous verdict.”
A subsequent note clarified jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict on any of the three arson charges.
...
Jurors told U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang on Thursday they were unable to come to a unanimous verdict. They’re expected to return the following day.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, is accused of starting a fire on Jan. 1, 2025, which prosecutors say later grew to become the deadly Palisades Fire. He is facing three counts of arson related to the destruction of federal property.
“We have people on both sides who are dead set, unwavering and unwilling to change their opinion. We are at a standstill. We are unsure how to proceed,” the jury wrote in a note to the judge, which was read aloud in court.
Hwang sent a note to the jury asking if there was anything the court could do to assist its deliberations, a step below an “Allen charge” or “dynamite charge,” which involves further instruction from a judge urging the jury to come to a unanimous decision and is considered a final, high-pressure effort to force an agreement.
Shortly thereafter, the jury responded with a note reading, “There is nothing the court can do to assist the jury in deliberations. Additional instruction or a rereading of the testimony would not help in deliberations. Unfortunately we cannot reach a unanimous verdict.”
A subsequent note clarified jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict on any of the three arson charges.
...
Jury Deadlocks in Palisades Arson Trial, Will Return Friday
The court tries other measures before giving an ‘Allen charge,’ considered a last-ditch effort to force a verdict.
www.theepochtimes.com
