Lyle Menendez Jury Says It Cannot Reach a Verdict : Court: Judge asks panel to deliberate further in an effort to pare down the charges. A retrial is likely.

In the first indication that the entire Menendez case will have to be retried, the Lyle Menendez jury reported Tuesday that it was deadlocked in its deliberations on charges against the older of the brothers accused of murdering their millionaire parents.

Last week’s earthquake clearly did not shake the panel into a compromise--a note was sent out Tuesday morning, barely two hours after deliberations resumed following an extraordinary 10-day break.

“We regret to inform the court that we are unable to come to a unanimous decision on any of the three counts,” said the note from the jury foreman, Juror No. 10, referring to the murder and conspiracy charges stemming from the Aug. 20, 1989, shotgun slayings of Jose and Kitty Menendez.

“The gap is too wide,” Juror No. 4 said at a short hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg ordered the panel to keep trying. But less than two hours later, the grim-looking jurors were back before him, reporting no progress.

As he did two weeks ago when a deadlock was reported by the separate jury weighing similar charges against Erik Menendez, Weisberg then gave the panel new forms to consider--designed not so much to get a verdict as to possibly pare down the charges that would be considered in a retrial.

The Lyle Menendez jurors spent less than 15 minutes behind closed doors with those forms before adjourning for the day. They will not resume deliberations until Friday, requesting two days off to tend to earthquake-related personal business.

The notes and courtroom comments left little hope that the jurors would fare any better than those who deliberated the Erik Menendez case. That jury was declared hopelessly deadlocked Jan. 13.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has vowed to retry either--or both--of the Menendez brothers if the trial, which began more than six months ago, produces no verdicts.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys were prohibited from commenting on Tuesday’s developments because of a gag order.

But in a hearing without jurors present, defense attorney Jill Lansing suggested that jurors might not be up to the tension of deliberations after what has happened to their homes. “I think it is not coincidental,” she said, “that this jury, which had been working a long time, never indicating they couldn’t reach a verdict, does so almost immediately upon coming back to begin deliberations following the earthquake.”

Until Tuesday, its 24th day of deliberations, the Lyle Menendez jury had not sent any notes to the judge indicating problems reaching a verdict.

While reporting its snag, the morning note added: “We are open to any suggestion or direction the court may have which would enable us to come to a decision.”

At 2:27 p.m., Weisberg ordered the jurors to retire again and keep trying for a verdict if they could do so without “violence to individual judgment.”

But at 3:56 p.m., the jury was back in court, reporting no progress. Soon after, they went home, setting up Friday as the day the costly trial, which has captured national attention, is likely to wind to a close.

Lyle Menendez, 26, and Erik Menendez, 23, admitted during the trial that they shot their parents, Jose Menendez, 45, and Kitty Menendez, 47, in the TV room of the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.

But they testified that they fired in fear and self-defense after years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Prosecutors contend that the brothers killed out of hatred and greed.

Two juries heard the case because some evidence was admitted against only one brother. Weisberg gave both panels a range of potential verdicts in the slaying of each parent--from first-degree murder, which carries a potential death penalty, down to involuntary manslaughter, which could mean a prison term as short as two years.

Though done with their part of the case, the Erik Menendez jurors have been prohibited from discussing their deliberation with reporters until the Lyle Menendez jury is finished. But the notes to the judge, and comments during open hearings, indicate that the Erik Menendez jurors were polarized from the start.

At least part of that jury insisted to the end on a first-degree murder conviction, but another faction apparently embraced the bold defense in the case, which portrayed the brothers as the victims in the Menendez household.

Until Tuesday, the last note sent by the Lyle Menendez jury was one on Jan. 13, asking three questions on legal definitions relating to manslaughter.

The panel deliberated on Jan. 14, sending no notes. Then came a weekend break, followed by the Jan. 17 earthquake--and an unprecedented interruption for a high-profile trial.

The quake, centered in Northridge, caused major damage to the Van Nuys courthouse a few miles away. All 12 jurors, who live in the San Fernando Valley, were unhurt but some were left to deal with substantial problems, the judge disclosed Tuesday in court.

Despite the upheaval in their lives, all 12 jurors reported back to the still-closed courthouse Monday, telling the judge the quake would not interfere with deliberations.

Because Weisberg’s fourth-floor courtroom was closed, the jury resumed deliberations in a trailer usually used as extra courtroom space.

The panel deliberated for 90 minutes Monday afternoon, then for less than an hour Tuesday before the foreman, a 35-year-old mailman, sent Weisberg the day’s first note.

The jurors filed into another outside trailer Tuesday afternoon. There, 11 of the 12 told Weisberg there was no “reasonable probability” that further deliberations would lead to a unanimous verdict.

The judge asked them if there was any help he could provide. “I really don’t think so,” the foreman said.

Juror No. 11 piped up, saying she wanted more instructions on the complexities of the law. “The law is the problem we have,” she said.

Sitting next to her, the foreman responded that a “couple instructions” would “clarify” technical points. “But I don’t think it would help us come to a unanimous decision.”

Weisberg nevertheless sent the panel back behind closed doors, telling the jurors to keep trying. Then came the second note: “After further discussion, we’ve agreed there is no clarification of jury instructions or re-read of testimony that would allow us to come to a unanimous decision.”

When the panel was assembled again in the trailer, the judge asked if there was any probability of a verdict. He was answered with a round of “No.”

Just as he did with the Erik Menendez jury, Weisberg then gave the Lyle Menendez panel the different verdict forms designed to see if they could eliminate any charges--starting with first-degree murder.

The so-called “Stone verdict” forms are designed to relieve jurors of the more difficult task of agreeing on one verdict. Instead, they vote on guilt or innocence for each possible charge separately.

If the jury is unanimous in acquitting on the first-degree murder, but remains deadlocked on the lesser ones, the prosecution would be foreclosed from seeking a first-degree conviction at a second trial.

This final step did not help the Erik Menendez jury. It came back several hours later and reported that it could not agree unanimously on anything. That is when the judge declared a mistrial in that part of the case.

Now the Lyle Menendez jury will try.