The Region : Suspect in Baby’s Death to Get 3rd Trial

After an Orange County jury deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of conviction, a mistrial was declared in the second-degree murder trial of Michael Garritson. Garritson was charged last year on the strength of his wife’s claim that he was responsible for the 1979 death of a 13-month-old baby that the couple was caring for in their Anaheim home. But the wife, Linda Garritson, whose trial for second-degree murder in the same case is pending, contradicted earlier statements to police and testified that the boy died by accident while her husband was out jogging. Prosecutors argued that Linda Garritson was lying at the trial, and that her husband would attempt to exonerate her when she stands trial next month. A new trial--the third for Michael Garritson--will be set April 26. His first trial also ended in a mistrial in January.