Becker jury at ‘stalemate,’ to try again Friday

Jurors told the judge this afternoon that they were at a “stalemate” in the Mark Becker murder trial.

The eight-man, four-woman Butler County jury sent a note to 2nd Judicial District Judge Stephen Carroll about 3:30 p.m., saying they had reached a stalemate, and “we want to go home and sleep on our decision? Start fresh tomorrow A.M.?”

Carroll told them to separate, go home and come back 9 a.m. Friday.

Becker, 24, is accused of shooting and killing Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas June 24. Becker claimed insanity as his defense. The two-week trial concluded Wednesday and the jury has deliberated about a day-and-a-half.

If the jury is deadlocked or split - over guilty of first-degree murder or not guilty by reason of insanity - the judge will encourage the jurors to again discuss the case before he will accept a hung jury, accroding to defense attorneys and an assistant prosecutor not connected to the Becker case.

“I have had hung juries in criminal trials,” Mike Lahammer, a Cedar Rapids defense attorney said Thursday. “When that occurs, the court usually will tell them to deliberate further if it has not been that long.”

Lahammer said defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges hate hung juries because of the time and resources that have been expended completing a case.

Mark Brown, another Cedar Rapids defense attorney, said his experience with hung juries is that the conviction rate on a second trial is very high because prosecutors have the first trial's transcript and use it to correct errors or weaknesses in their case.

The attorneys report that a judge will send a deadlocked jury back to deliberate after the first time it reports being at a stalement.

But if the jury again reports being deadlocked, the judge will give jurors the “Allen Charge,” which asks them to continue their deliberations in an effort to reach a verdict. The charge reminds jurors it's an important case and that it's “been expensive in time, effort, money and emotional strain to both the defense and the prosecution.”

The charge states that if jurors don't reach a verdict, the case will be left open and have to be tried again. The charge also asks them to go back and reconsider their position if the majority is in favor of a conviction and they are not. On the other hand, if the majority is in favor of acquittal, then the ones in favor of a conviction should reconsider.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said that after two weeks of testimony, as in the Becker case, a day-and-a-half for jury deliberations isn't a long time.

A judge will likely consider how much testimony and evidence a jury has to consider and how many hours they have deliberated before accepting a hung jury, he said.

“I had a case where the jury was deadlocked 6-6, and the judge told them to go back and give it another shot after giving them the charging order, and they had a verdict in a few minutes,” he said.

Brown said the judge and attorneys want to make sure the jury has had ample time to consider all the testimony and evidence. It's beneficial to everyone, he said.

Earlier in the day Thursday, the jurors asked to watch a few minutes of the videotaped police interview with Becker. In that portion, Special Agent Chris Callaway of the Division of Criminal Investigation is asking Becker to go over what he did the day Thomas was killed.

The jurors only wanted to see and hear a few sentences when Becker said he parked in front of the elementary school to look for Thomas.

Jurors told the judge this afternoon that they were at a “stalemate” in the Mark Becker murder trial.

The eight-man, four-woman Butler County jury sent a note to 2nd Judicial District Judge Stephen Carroll about 3:30 p.m., saying they had reached a stalemate, and “we want to go home and sleep on our decision? Start fresh tomorrow A.M.?”

Carroll told them to separate, go home and come back 9 a.m. Friday.

Becker, 24, is accused of shooting and killing Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas June 24. Becker claimed insanity as his defense. The two-week trial concluded Wednesday and the jury has deliberated about a day-and-a-half.

If the jury is deadlocked or split - over guilty of first-degree murder or not guilty by reason of insanity - the judge will encourage the jurors to again discuss the case before he will accept a hung jury, accroding to defense attorneys and an assistant prosecutor not connected to the Becker case.

“I have had hung juries in criminal trials,” Mike Lahammer, a Cedar Rapids defense attorney said Thursday. “When that occurs, the court usually will tell them to deliberate further if it has not been that long.”

Lahammer said defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges hate hung juries because of the time and resources that have been expended completing a case.

Mark Brown, another Cedar Rapids defense attorney, said his experience with hung juries is that the conviction rate on a second trial is very high because prosecutors have the first trial's transcript and use it to correct errors or weaknesses in their case.

The attorneys report that a judge will send a deadlocked jury back to deliberate after the first time it reports being at a stalement.

But if the jury again reports being deadlocked, the judge will give jurors the “Allen Charge,” which asks them to continue their deliberations in an effort to reach a verdict. The charge reminds jurors it's an important case and that it's “been expensive in time, effort, money and emotional strain to both the defense and the prosecution.”

The charge states that if jurors don't reach a verdict, the case will be left open and have to be tried again. The charge also asks them to go back and reconsider their position if the majority is in favor of a conviction and they are not. On the other hand, if the majority is in favor of acquittal, then the ones in favor of a conviction should reconsider.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said that after two weeks of testimony, as in the Becker case, a day-and-a-half for jury deliberations isn't a long time.

A judge will likely consider how much testimony and evidence a jury has to consider and how many hours they have deliberated before accepting a hung jury, he said.

“I had a case where the jury was deadlocked 6-6, and the judge told them to go back and give it another shot after giving them the charging order, and they had a verdict in a few minutes,” he said.

Brown said the judge and attorneys want to make sure the jury has had ample time to consider all the testimony and evidence. It's beneficial to everyone, he said.

Earlier in the day Thursday, the jurors asked to watch a few minutes of the videotaped police interview with Becker. In that portion, Special Agent Chris Callaway of the Division of Criminal Investigation is  asking Becker to go over what he did the day Thomas was killed.

The jurors only wanted to see and hear a few sentences when Becker said he parked in front of the elementary school to look for Thomas.