The State - News from Oct. 21, 1988

The Redwood City trial of burglary suspect Donald Green, 33, ended in a mistrial after a man claiming to be a law student offered cookies to jurors during a break, then approached a police officer who had just testified and told him that the case did not seem very strong. The officer had said on the stand that he could not identify Green as the burglar. Deputy Dist. Atty. Jack Gransaert said the supposed law student then asked the officer what other evidence there was. Gransaert said the stranger claimed to be attending a law school in Los Gatos, but there is none there. “I smelled a rat,” said defense attorney Ed Pomeroy, who asked that a mistrial be declared. After one of the jurors admitted eating a cookie and talking to the man for 20 minutes, the jury was dismissed.