Partial Verdict in Rat Case; Jury Still Deliberating : Crime: Child-endangerment charges against parents decided but panel is split on manslaughter in death of baby bitten 110 times. Decisions are temporarily sealed.

An Orange County jury was having trouble Thursday reaching a unanimous verdict in the manslaughter trial of a homeless couple whose infant son was bitten 110 times by a starving pet rat.

Jurors announced that they had reached verdicts on two child endangerment charges, but said they were deadlocked 9-3 on the involuntary manslaughter counts against Kathyleen and Steven Giguere Sr., said defense attorney William Watson.

The jury resumed deliberations on the remaining counts Thursday, then recessed for the day without reaching a decision.

Superior Court Judge Kazaharu Makino ordered jurors to return to court today) to determine whether the case is headed for a mistrial, or whether jurors feel additional deliberations will help them close the gap, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Tanizaki.

The jury did not indicate whether it was split in favor of conviction or acquittal. The judge sealed the verdicts on the endangerment charges.

The parents were arrested after 4-month-old Steven Jr. died Aug. 26 in the trash-strewn, roach-infested station wagon the family called home.

The prosecution contends the rat killed the baby after striking an artery, causing him to bleed to death. Tanizaki contends the couple knew the rodent had a history of biting people, yet left the helpless infant and his 3-year-old sister alone in the vehicle with the rat.

But defense attorneys say the child was dead from sudden infant death syndrome before the rat attack. The parents are distraught over the death of their child and are being blamed unfairly for a freak accident, they say.

Under state law, the child endangerment charges carry the more severe penalty--up to six years in prison. Involuntary manslaughter carries a four-year prison term. Under sentencing guidelines, the most either parents could face is six years in prison even if convicted of all charges.

The rat was killed after the attack and a necropsy--an autopsy for animals--showed it was in advanced stages of starvation and also was dehydrated.

During trial, witnesses testified that much of the money the parents received from welfare and food stamps was spent on liquor and junk food. Witnesses also testified that the family’s car was strewn with soiled clothing, dirty diapers, rat feces, gnats, flies and roaches.

But prosecution experts also conceded that Steven Jr. seemed well-fed and showed no signs of abuse before his death.

Orange County Social Service workers were repeatedly asked to investigate the couple, but each time, social service workers found insufficient evidence to remove the children. Workers were unable to locate the transient couple to investigate a complaint filed by the child’s grandparents just before the death.

Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this story.