http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-fresno-jury-signs-wrong-form-20140611-story.html wrote:
Fresno jury allowed a career criminal to go free Wednesday after members accidently filled out a not-guilty form.

The judge, who was in complete shock, had no choice but to set defendant Bobby Lee Pearson free because the verdict had officially been entered into the public record, The Fresno Bee reported.
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Jury members told the judge they were deadlocked and confused by the forms. Since there wasn’t a form for a deadlock, they signed the not-guilty form, The Bee reported.

Pearson, 37, and two co-defendants were accused of burglarizing an apartment in May 2013, stealing a video system and gun.

The homeowner caught the three and wrestled with one of them, The Bee reported.

One of the suspects took a plea deal, leaving Pearson and the other man to face trial. Pearson has felony convictions for corporal injury to a co-inhabitant, possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle and carrying a concealed weapon, according to the report, which cited records.

"I can't believe it," Judge W. Kent Hamlin said in The Bee Report. “This has never happened to me in more than 100 jury trials that I have done."

http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/06/12/3973729/man-slain-after-argument-in-northwest.html wrote: A Fresno career criminal freed from jail late Wednesday after a jury's mistake helped set him free was fatally attacked within an hour of his release.

Fresno County Coroner Dr. David Hadden confirmed Bobby Lee Pearson, 37, was the victim in a central Fresno homicide early Thursday. The boyfriend of Pearson's sister has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

A few minutes before 1 a.m., officers went to the 1400 block of West Dayton Avenue, just west of West Avenue and south of Dakota Avenue, and found Pearson lying in the road with fatal wounds to his torso and head, Lt. Joe Gomez said. He was transported to Community Regional Medical Center, where he was pronouced dead at 1:25 a.m.

According to Fresno County Jail records, Pearson was released from the facility just before midnight.

Suspect Willie Gray, 35, was arrested shortly before 5 a.m. for allegedly murdering Pearson early Thursday. Gray was arrested at 1048 W. Clinton Ave. Police are still waiting for autopsy results to show if Pearson was shot and/or stabbed.

Police said Gray is the boyfriend of Pearson's sister Lasandra Jackson, 35, who placed the 911 call about her brother being injured in the middle of the street.

Police said Pearson went to the home to get property he said belonged to him. There, he got into an argument with the boyfriend of a relative, Gomez said.

Pearson and the boyfriend went outside to resolve the dispute. A witness reported hearing a loud pop, Gomez said, then saw the victim on the ground.

Mya Thomas, 36, of Fresno and Pearson have a 9-year-old son. Thursday morning, Thomas said several people had already called her about Pearson's death but she had no details.

"He was a good man and my son's father," Thomas said.

Pearson was freed at 11:57 p.m. Wednesday from Fresno County Jail after a jury found him not guilty of burglary charges. Jurors, however, had mistakenly signed a not-guilty verdict form.

"I can't believe it," Judge W. Kent Hamlin said in Fresno County Superior Court after he ordered defendant Bobby Lee Pearson to be set free from jail because the not-guilty verdict had been put on the record.

After it was too late, jurors told Hamlin they were hung on the charges against Pearson. If the jury had announced it was deadlocked, the judge could have declared a mistrial and the prosecution could have retried Pearson.

Instead, a flabbergasted Hamlin told the jury, "I can't change it because double jeopardy has already attached. This has never happened to me in more than 100 jury trials that I have done."

Hamlin re-read the jury instructions to the panel. The instructions say all 12 jurors must be unanimous to reach a verdict -- either guilty or not guilty. But the jury told the judge they were confused by the verdict forms. One form says guilty. The other form says not guilty.

A juror told Hamlin there wasn't a form to sign to say they were deadlocked. And they were: split 8-4 in favor of finding Pearson guilty.

Hamlin had no choice but to thank the jury and excuse them.

Police say Pearson and co-defendants Terrel Minnieweather and another person burglarized an apartment near Maple and Herndon avenues in May last year, stealing a video system and gun. The homeowner caught the three intruders in the act and wrestled with one of them, but had trouble identifying them, said Lindahl, who defended Minnieweather.

Prior to trial, the third suspect took a plea deal, leaving Pearson and Minnieweather, 31, to face a jury.

The jury came back with its verdict right before lunch Wednesday, finding Minnieweather guilty of residential burglary and grand theft, but Pearson not guilty of the charges. When Hamlin asked the jury if that was indeed their verdict on the charges against Pearson, all 12 nodded yes.

Because prosecutor Billy Terrance had charged the two defendants with street terrorism, Hamlin asked the jury to return after lunch for a potential second phase of the trial to determine whether the defendants acted in concert for the benefit of a street gang. Over lunch one of the jurors informed court staff that he voted to find Pearson guilty, Lindahl said.

The juror's admission prompted the judge to start the afternoon proceedings with his inquiry about the confusion. The prosecution then asked the judge to dismiss the street terrorism charges against both Pearson and Minnieweather, and Hamlin agreed.

Pearson has felony convictions for corporal injury to a co-inhabitant, possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle and carrying a concealed weapon, court records show.

This story will be updated.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/06/12/3973729/man-slain-after-argument-in-northwest.html#storylink=cpy

 sarpedons-right-hand wrote:
Karma anyone?

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Sometimes juries do stupid things. I recall an account of a mistrial after a jury using a ouija board to contact a dead victim when attempting to reach a verdict.

 sarpedons-right-hand wrote:
Karma anyone?

 Goliath wrote:

 sarpedons-right-hand wrote:
Karma anyone?

Because failing to burglarize someone's house means that you deserve to die? Seriously?

 TheMeanDM wrote:
"He was a good man and my son's father,"

Um....

Good people don't put themselves into positions where they face burglary charges.

Good people don't get convicted of:
-- corporal injury to a co-inhabitant
-- possession of a firearm by a felon
-- carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle
-- carrying a concealed weapon

Good people are not labeled "career criminals" for a reason.

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:

 TheMeanDM wrote:
"He was a good man and my son's father,"

Um....

Good people don't put themselves into positions where they face burglary charges.

Good people don't get convicted of:
-- corporal injury to a co-inhabitant
-- possession of a firearm by a felon
-- carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle
-- carrying a concealed weapon

Good people are not labeled "career criminals" for a reason.

Stupid people are fething stupid. Everybody thinks they are "Good" "funny" or "Smart".

 daedalus wrote:
I was expecting some Shaft type street justice, but it looks like the murder was not directly related to the crime committed?

 kronk wrote:
My give a gak isn't working this morning. I'm not happy he's dead, but I'm not unhappy either.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
The victim is the US legal system.

Jury members told the judge they were deadlocked and confused by the forms. Since there wasn’t a form for a deadlock, they signed the not-guilty form, The Bee reported.

squidhills wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
The victim is the US legal system.

That works for me!

It's the US legal system's fault for dressing that way in a bad neighborhood!

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Sometimes juries do stupid things. I recall an account of a mistrial after a jury using a ouija board to contact a dead victim when attempting to reach a verdict.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Sometimes juries do stupid things. I recall an account of a mistrial after a jury using a ouija board to contact a dead victim when attempting to reach a verdict.

Jury members told the judge they were deadlocked and confused by the forms. Since there wasn’t a form for a deadlock, they signed the not-guilty form, The Bee reported.