Charges Dismissed Against Ex-Officer Who Shot Driver

Charges were dismissed Tuesday against a former Long Beach police officer accused of shooting a motorist during a traffic dispute after a second jury declared itself deadlocked.

Alan B. Ice, 47, of Fountain Valley, shot and wounded Neil Cramer of Santa Ana in September, 1991. Ice claimed the shooting of the 37-year-old carpenter was accidental, but prosecutors charged that Ice fired his weapon in a fit of anger.

Defense attorney John D. Barnett said his client was pleased that the case is over. Ice, who was fired after 21 years with the police force because of the shooting, is now appealing that termination, Barnett said.

“He is greatly relieved,” Barnett said outside the courtroom as Ice stood with his wife and four daughters, who wept with joy. “It was just a hard case to try.”

Jurors in Ice’s first trial in October also failed to reach a verdict. Many jurors in that trial said afterward they doubted that 12 people would ever agree on a verdict.

That prediction came true Tuesday when the second jury deadlocked 6 to 6 and told the judge that further deliberations would be fruitless.

Shortly before declaring a mistrial and dismissing charges, Orange County Superior Court Judge John M. Watson asked whether there was any chance of a unanimous verdict.

“I don’t think there is any reasonable possibility, your honor,” said Sheila Muldoon, a Newport Beach attorney who served as forewoman for the jury.

Watson said he would dismiss charges against Ice “in the interest of justice.”

The prosecutor, Deputy Dist.Atty. Clyde P. Von Der Ahe, conceded that it would be difficult to achieve a verdict in a third trial and did not object to the judge’s decision. Von Der Ahe could not be reached later for comment.

“There was just no way to get all 12 to agree,” Muldoon said outside the courtroom. “We did the best we could.”

Ice was charged with felony assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle. Cramer was shot in the shoulder after exchanging angry words and obscene hand gestures with Ice at a Fountain Valley stoplight. He has recovered from his injuries.

The incident began when Cramer swerved his camper truck into Ice’s lane to avoid a boy who had fallen off his bike. Ice, who was off-duty, honked at Cramer and the men began yelling at each other at the signal.

Ice told jurors that the shooting occurred when his Jeep jerked forward because of a mechanical problem that he claimed he had tried to fix. Ice said he armed himself because he feared that Cramer was also armed.

Cramer told jurors that he was not armed at the time of the shooting. However, he said he had his companion, Elaine Lara, grab a hammer from the back of his truck.

Lara has filed a civil suit against Ice, seeking damages to cover Cramer’s hospital bills, which total more than $50,000.

Jurors in the first trial cited inconsistencies between statements Cramer and Lara made to police and their later testimony in court.