Jury Split Rules Out Execution for Killer

Convicted murderer and Mexican Mafia leader Mariano “Chuy” Martinez will serve life in prison after a jury deciding his fate deadlocked Thursday.

Martinez could have been the first person to be sentenced to death in federal court in Los Angeles in 50 years. But the jury deciding his fate split 7-5 in favor of death, resulting in U.S. District Judge David O. Carter’s declaring a hung jury.

Under federal law, that means Martinez will automatically serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Had he been tried in state court, prosecutors would have had the option to impanel a new jury to decide on whether Martinez would face death or life imprisonment, Carter said.

Martinez, 42, was convicted in February of murdering three men and ordering hits on eight others in the first death penalty case tried in Los Angeles federal court in half a century. The jury took 26 days of deliberations to convict Martinez on 24 of 25 criminal counts, which also included racketeering and drug trafficking.

Martinez, the jury decided, ordered the killings of two bystanders and Richard Serrano, an associate of a high-ranking member of an opposing faction of Martinez’s gang in November 1998.

In the penalty phase, the jurors deliberated 4 1/2 days before sending Carter a note Tuesday announcing they were deadlocked. Carter asked the members to continue.

On Thursday morning, jurors notified the judge that they remained at an impasse, prompting him to declare a mistrial.

At least two jurors believed the crimes were not heinous enough to warrant death, according to a jury member. The members of the jury declined to give their names because of the sensitivity of the case

Carter thanked the jury for its service and told members not to be discouraged because they could not come to a common decision.

“Your inability to reach a verdict is as good a verdict as either of the other [choices],” he said.

Martinez and audience members sat quietly in the courtroom Thursday as Carter announced the jury’s decision.

Outside the courtroom, Assistant U.S. Atty. Susan Barna said she was not disappointed with the outcome and commended jurors for grappling with the difficult issue.

“The government as well as the defense owes them a debt because of the length of their service,” Barna said. “It was a hard job.”

Martinez is due back in court April 29 for formal sentencing. His attorney, Mark Overland, said he plans to file a motion for a new trial.

“We’re going to try to get a new trial on the terms of the conviction,” Overland said. “There was evidence that came out during the penalty phase that was not allowed in the guilt phase.”

Overland also expressed contempt for the justice system’s use of the death penalty, saying: “This whole process is disgusting, everybody trying to act so civilized when the point is to kill somebody.”