A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on the degree of Brandon McInerney's guilt for killing 15-year-old Larry King. After an eight-week trial and six days of deliberations, jurors could not decide if the slaying was murder or manslaughter.
The nine-woman, three-man panel said they took a series of votes — the last one with seven in favor of voluntary manslaughter and five jurors supporting either first-degree or second-degree murder.
Prosecutors must now decide whether to re-file murder and hate crime charges against McInerney, now 17 but 14 at the time of the killing, who was tried as an adult. They had offered a deal of 25 years to life if he pleaded guilty, but his lawyers passed. A first-degree murder conviction carried a maximum sentenced of more than 50 years in prison.
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Complete article at Time : http://ti.me/nVTYoe
