‘What just happened?’
Jurors shocked by mistrial in ex-deputy’s murder case
The jury was left stunned and clueless about what had just happened: Why did the judge suddenly declare a mistrial in the murder trial they just sat through all this time?
In an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel, a juror described how the jury was left flabbergasted by the abrupt end of the trial against Carlton Nebergall, a retired Palm Beach County sheriff ’s deputy accused of murdering his son-in-law.
“When I got back in the jury room I said, ‘What the hell was that all about?’” recalled juror Christine Pendergrass. “We’re looking at each other with this amazed look on our faces.”
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Dana Gillen had excused the jury Tuesday without telling them that one member of the panel was spotted holding his cellphone when it was supposed to be put away. Pendergrass said she had an empty feeling after her jury service so abruptly in the middle of closing arguments.
“I was stunned and kind of disappointed that I listened to all these witnesses and all this evidence and the whole thing, and all of a sudden now I have no say in
what happens, there was no finishing,” she said. “You know, it was like I had a job to do and I wasn’t able to complete my job.”
The defense had requested the mistrial when a juror was spotted with the cellphone; the prosecution objected.
A lack of alternative jurors had made the problem worse: There were no other jurors available because of a run of misfortune during the seven-day trial. One juror fell in the courthouse and was released from service, and another became too ill to continue.
Gillen ended the trial without asking Juror No. 11 why the phone was in his hand. The judge, however, questioned the same man last Friday after the court observed him appearing to be asleep during witness testimony.
The juror then denied snoozing at any point in the trial.
“Are you telling me that you have been listening with your eyes closed?” asked the judge, according to a trial transcript. Juror No. 11: “Yes.” His fellow jurors were aware of the sleeping allegation, because he told them about it in the jury room.
“He told us all he has a hard time staying awake,” Pendergrass told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
With the entire jury out of the courtroom, defense attorney Michael Salnick asked for the man to be dismissed due to his apparent slumber.
“I have watched this juror fall asleep at least three times … I have a very, very big concern that he has missed some pieces of testimony,” the attorney said. “So I’d ask he be released.”
At the time, a replacement was still available and the trial could have continued with the minimum 12 jurors.
Gillen instead juror a warning.
“This is an extremely important case,” the judge told Juror No. 11. “All right? We’re talking about a firstdegree murder case here. It’s very important to the defense and to the state that all of the jurors be on the ball and pay close attention to all the testimony and other forms of evidence that are produced during the course of this trial. Do you understand?”
The man answered, “Yes, sir.”
Reached by phone Wednesday, the juror declined to answer any questions. Before hanging up he said, “Have a good day, thank you very much.”
Nebergall’s lawyer said he plans to file a motion asking the judge to examine the juror’s actions. The Sun Sentinel is not identifying gave the the juror because the judge hasn’t said whether he’d look into the matter.
Jurors have gotten into serious trouble for less egregious acts. Two Palm Beach County jurors were jailed for more than a week this year for skipping jury duty.
And jurors have been thrown behind bars for causing mistrials in highprofile trials that cost tens of thousands of dollars, just like Nebergall’s trial.
The last time was in 2016, when a juror was jailed eight days for conducting outside research during a trial in the Three Amigos convenience store murder case out of West Boynton.
Gillen set a hearing for Friday to pick a date for Nebergall’s retrial. He remains held without bond at the Palm Beach County Jail, accused in the fatal shooting of his son-in-law, Jacob Lodge, 36, outside Nebergall’s home in The Acreage on Feb. 18, 2018.
Nebergall, 63, testified Monday that he killed Lodge in self-defense. Prosecutors said it was intentional, and Lodge was unarmed.