North Hollywood Shootout Jury Reports Impasse

The North Hollywood shootout trial appeared headed for a mistrial Wednesday after the jury reported it was hopelessly deadlocked over whether police allowed a wounded bank robber to bleed to death.

“Regrettably, the jury is unable to reach an unanimous verdict,” the jury foreman said in a note sent to U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder on the third day of deliberations.

The note gave no indication of how the jury was split.

Despite “vigorous discussions, review of the evidence, etc.,” the note added, “we all agree that additional deliberation time would be of no use.”

Snyder summoned the 12 deadlocked jurors to her courtroom and instructed them, nevertheless, to resume deliberations.

“Each of you should consider the correctness of your position,” she counseled.

Ninety minutes later, the jurors sent out another note, saying they were quitting for the day. They are to resume deliberations at 9 a.m. today.

Anticipating a mistrial, plaintiff’s attorney Stephen Yagman asked the judge about a possible date for a new trial in September.

Yagman is suing the city of Los Angeles and two former police officers on behalf of bank robber Emil Matasareanu’s surviving sons.

Matasareanu, 30, bled to death in the street after he was captured in the notorious North Hollywood bank robbery shootout on Feb. 28, 1997. Matasareanu and a cohort, Larry E. Philips Jr., 26, wearing full body armor and equipped with military assault rifles, wounded 11 police officers and six citizens after robbing more than $300,000 from a Bank of America branch on Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The shootout was broadcast on live television.

Philips died of a self-inflicted bullet wound during the 44-minute gun battle. Matasareanu, hit by 29 bullets, died about an hour after he was taken into police custody.

According to the lawsuit, Det. James Vojtecky, 52, who took charge of Matasareanu after his capture, and Officer John Futrell, 50, who was assigned to watch over the wounded gunman, ordered away ambulances sent to take Matasareanu to a hospital.

Both officers, now retired, took the stand in their own defense and denied the allegations.

Before announcing their deadlock, jurors had asked to rehear lengthy trial testimony concerning the two officers’ actions at the crime scene. On Tuesday, they listened intently as a court reporter read Futrell’s entire testimony under direct- and cross-examination.

Futrell’s account conflicted with other witnesses in two key areas. He testified to seeing only a small amount of blood coming from Matasareanu’s body, while a Fire Department medical technician reported seeing blood over much of the gunman’s body and staining the street.

Police radio transmissions also showed that Futrell called off an ambulance heading toward his location, by saying, “No officers or civilians down. Just a suspect.” The retired patrolman said the ambulance he called off was searching for a wounded officer at another location.

On Wednesday, the jury shifted its attention to Vojtecky. It listened to the transcribed testimony of Allen Skier, a Fire Department emergency medical technician. He had said that a plainclothes detective, most likely Vojtecky, told him to “get the . . . out of here” because other gunmen were suspected to be on the loose.

The plaintiffs claim that the immediate area was safe at the time.

On the witness stand, Vojtecky disputed the medical technician’s account. He said he became incensed when Skier started to leave without Matasareanu and cussed at him, demanding that he send for another ambulance to take Matasareanu to the hospital. Skier could not recall any such exchange.

The lawsuit is being tried in federal court, where a unanimous verdict is required in civil as well as criminal cases. In California state courts, nine out of 12 votes are sufficient for a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs.