Mistrial Declared in Broderick Case : Courts: The jury declares itself deadlocked, unable to decide if the La Jolla socialite was guilty of murder or manslaughter. She admitted slaying her former husband and his wife in the couple’s bedroom.

The trial of La Jolla socialite Elisabeth Anne (Betty) Broderick, accused of killing her ex-husband and his new wife, ended abruptly in a mistrial Tuesday when the jury deadlocked.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan declared the mistrial when the jury reported that it could not decide on a unanimous verdict after four days of deliberations.

Ten panelists believed Broderick was guilty of murder charges, while two believed she should only be convicted of lesser manslaughter counts.

Broderick smiled briefly as the judge made his declaration.

The only matter on which everyone apparently agreed was to not talk to the media.

“We had a unanimous agreement not to talk to the media,” said juror Walter H. Polk, 59, a civilian Navy employee in San Diego.

“Where I come from in Ohio, your word is your bond. You don’t have to put it in writing or have it notarized.”

But one panel member, who asked not to be identified, said two members were seeking manslaughter convictions while 10 others pressed for murder.

After the mistrial, the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kerry Wells, said she was “very disappointed.” Wells said Betty Broderick was likely to be retried for the Nov. 5, 1989, slayings of her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, and his second wife, Linda Kolkena Broderick.

Dist. Atty. Edwin L. Miller Jr. said he and Wells will decide in the next few days whether to go forward with a second trial.

Whelan set a hearing on the matter for Tuesday.

Betty Broderick’s daughter, Kim Broderick, 20, a sophomore at the University of Arizona, testified against her mother. She said she was “frustrated and mad” at the outcome, adding, “I just wanted this to be behind us.”

Defense attorney Jack Earley said the outcome was “not a real surprise.”

He said he plans to ask that his client be freed on bail. He also said he is amenable to a plea bargain.

Betty Broderick, 43, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. She has been held without bail since surrendering to police only hours after the killings.

Daniel Broderick, 44, was a prominent medical malpractice attorney and a former president of the San Diego County Bar Assn. Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28, was his office assistant.

After 16 years of marriage, Daniel and Betty Broderick separated. During and after bitter divorce proceedings, Betty Broderick accused him of using his legal influence to cheat her out of what she considered her fair share of his seven-figure annual income.

Betty Broderick admitted firing the fatal shots. But testifying in her own defense, she contended that she did not have the premeditation the law requires for first-degree murder, because she intended only to confront her former husband and to kill herself in his presence when she stole into his house before dawn.

Wells contended that the killings were premeditated and that Broderick executed her ex-husband and his bride after years of rising rage that stemmed from the divorce.

Earley said the deadlocked jury is “a vindication that Betty Broderick is not what she has been pictured to be.” He said his client was successful in convincing at least some jurors that she had been a victim, too.

The lawyer contended that the defendant was guilty, at most, of manslaughter. It was “obvious,” Earley said, that jurors “saw some of the things she saw and felt some of the things she felt.”

Broderick declined to comment, saying, “I’m still in custody. I’m not supposed to talk.”

Times staff writer Michael Granberry contributed to this story.