After nearly two months of testimony and deliberation, a Los Angeles Superior court judge on Friday declared a mistrial in the murder trial of a Mongols Motorcycle Club member after a jury deadlocked over whether he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Pomona police SWAT officer Shaun Diamond in 2014.
The jury reached a unanimous verdict of not guilty in the first-degree murder charge against David Martinez, but deadlocked 3 to 9, with the majority in favor of acquittal, on the charge of second-degree murder.
The jury never got past their deadlock to discuss the other two charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault on a police officer, the jury foreperson, identified only as Juror No. 3, told Judge Charlaine Olmedo in open court Friday afternoon.
The foreperson had tears in her eyes as she left the courtroom. Later, Juror No. 3 declined to give her name, but she said she was frustrated that the jury couldn’t acquit Martinez because three jury members were determined to find Martinez guilty because he was a member of the Mongols.
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