Jury deadlocks in cop’s murder retrial

A second mistrial was declared Friday in the case of a white University of Cincinnati officer who killed an unarmed black motorist during a traffic stop. It’s the latest racially charged police shooting case to show the reluctance of U.S. jurors to convict officers.

Hamilton County Judge Leslie Ghiz declared a mistrial after more than 30 hours of jury deliberations over five days. The jurors had said they were unable to reach a verdict in Officer Ray Tensing’s trial, but Ghiz had sent them back to try again on the counts of murder and voluntary manslaughter.

Instead, they sent her another note some three hours later, saying: “We are almost evenly split regarding our votes.” The note said they didn’t foresee reaching a unanimous verdict.

Tensing looked down, his hand on his face, as the judge announced the mistrial over the death of 43-year-old Sam DuBose, who was shot in the head while driving away from the traffic stop on July 19, 2015.

The first trial against the 27-year-old Tensing also ended in a mistrial after the jury deliberated 25 hours over four days in November.

California travel ban: California’s attorney general blocked state-funded travel to Texas and three other states on Thursday in response to what he considers anti-LGBT rights laws enacted this year.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra added Texas, Alabama, South Dakota and Kentucky to the list of places where state employee travel is restricted. Lawmakers passed legislation last year banning nonessential travel to states with laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee are already on the list.

State taxpayers’ money “will not be used to let people travel to states who chose to discriminate,” Becerra said.

It’s unclear what practical effect California’s travel ban will have. The state law contains exemptions for some trips, such as travel needed to enforce California law.