Judge declares a mistrial in vehicular murder case after juror changes her vote — and the verdict

Shortly after a jury voted to convict a Costa Mesa man facing two counts of murder in a 2015 traffic collision that killed a Lake Forest woman and her 2-year-old granddaughter, a juror changed her mind — and her vote — and the judge declared a mistrial.

The final phase of the trial appeared to begin routinely Wednesday morning when jurors notified the court that they had reached a verdict.

Defendant Alec Scott Abraham, 24, sat impatiently, looking back at his family in the courtroom as the panelists filed in and took their seats.

Abraham’s mother mouthed, “I love you,” before the foreperson delivered the verdict to the Orange County Superior Court clerk on the two counts of murder her son faced in what prosecutors described as a fatal hit-and-run accident precipitated by street racing.

Abraham diverted his eyes from the jury, judge and clerk, fixing his gaze in the direction of his family while the clerk read the guilty verdict aloud on each of the two counts in front of the full Santa Ana courtroom.

After the clerk read the a verdict, the jurors were polled to confirm their decision.

Jurors No. 1-7 affirmed their votes.

Then, after hesitating, Juror No. 8 said, in a quiet voice, “I changed my mind.”

“Oh, thank God!” Abraham’s mother declared with a gasp from the second row of the courtroom.

Defense attorney Houman Fakhimi lurched to grasp his client’s upper arm, shaking it vigorously with excitement.

Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham asked the dissenting juror to confirm what she said.

The juror asked the judge if she could explain her vote.

Pham said no, adding that she could only confirm her statement.

“I changed my mind ... at this moment,” Juror No. 8 said.

The clerk polled the remaining jurors, who affirmed their initial votes.

“I have no choice but to declare a mistrial,” Pham said.

The defendant’s mother wept and clasped the hands of those next to her.

After Abraham and his family and attorneys were escorted out of the courtroom, an audible cry could be heard coming from the hall.

Fakhimi called the homicide charges an “an overreach by the prosecution” and “an amazing stretch by the government.”

“This was not murder,” Fakhimi said outside the courtroom, emphasizing that his client had no prior record of traffic accidents or DUIs.

Abraham was originally charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter after he allegedly fled the scene of a deadly Irvine traffic collision on foot on June 10, 2015, and police caught up with him in a Costa Mesa park the next day. Prosecutors later upgraded the charges to murder.

Witnesses testified last month that Abraham’s Ford Mustang approached the intersection of Barranca and Alton parkways at about 70 mph before running a red light and broadsiding a Chevrolet Cruze driven by Katherine Hampton, 54, of Lake Forest.

Hampton died at the scene. Her 2-year-old granddaughter, Kaydence, died later at the hospital. Hampton’s daughter and another grandchild who were riding in the Cruze survived the impact.

If convicted Abraham would have faced 30 years to life in prison.

He is scheduled to return to court April 12 for a pre-trail hearing. A new trial is tentatively scheduled for May 6.