Mistrial Is Rejected in Maniscalco Case

Intent on averting a mistrial in the longest criminal trial in county history, a judge refused to dismiss 12 jurors Monday without a verdict in the triple-murder case of former Hessian motorcycle-gang leader Thomas F. Maniscalco.

And so, as relatives of the defendant, lawyers, reporters and photographers waited anxiously in the courthouse, deliberations continued for a record 23rd day. And for a 23rd day, the jury went home without a verdict.

A verdict is not likely to come soon, lawyers acknowledged. After being instructed to continue discussions in hopes of overcoming their apparent deadlock, jurors on Monday asked that a court reporter read them the testimony of two witnesses. That could take three days to complete.

The panel reported last Thursday that they had “exhausted all reasonable avenues for agreement.” Superior Court Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary made the deadlock public on Friday.

She could have declared a mistrial then. But that would have probably meant that the case--which has already cost millions and kept the 45-year-old Maniscalco in jail for 6 1/2 years without bail--would have been retried.

Monday morning, for the first time in the drawn-out deliberations, defense attorney Andrew Roth asked for a mistrial because of the deadlock.

Maniscalco faces the death penalty if convicted on three counts of murder. He allegedly orchestrated the killings of three people in Westminster on Memorial Day weekend, 1980, in a feud over drugs and counterfeit money.