OXNARD : Jury Deadlocks in Man’s Murder Trial
A Superior Court jury was dismissed Thursday without reaching a verdict on a manslaughter charge against an Oxnard man accused of the Christmas Day slaying of his former girlfriend’s son.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch to release the jury ended Jose Jimenez’s two-week trial. The jury had been deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of conviction.
Prosecutors charged Jimenez with murder for the stabbing death of Isaias Guerrero Morales, 21. Guerrero was knifed in the yard of his family’s Campbell Way home.
On Wednesday, the same jury acquitted Jimenez of second-degree murder, the charge on which the prosecution had sought a conviction.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter D. Kossoris said the prosecutor’s office will probably ask to have Jimenez retried in the case. The judge would have the option of granting the new trial or dismissing the charge against Jimenez.
“I’m 100% positive Judge Storch won’t dismiss this case,” Kossoris said.
Deputy Public Defender Joseph Villasana, who represented Jimenez, could not be reached for comment. He has said Jimenez acted in self-defense. Kossoris said he was disappointed that the jury did not reach a guilty verdict.
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