Murder retrial again ends in deadlock

OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING

CINCINNATI — 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 earlier Friday that 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. Tensing and his family left quickly without comment.

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 without reaching a verdict.

The NAACP of Cincinnati blasted the hung jury result and said they will demand justice.

“The message that is being sent is, if you are black, all the police officer has to do is say they were in fear of their life and they get away with murder because the victim (is) black,” the local NAACP said in a statement.

Prosecutors will have to decide whether to try Tensing for a third time. A spokeswoman for the county prosecutor, Joe Deters, said he won’t comment until next week.

Ghiz had rejected a prosecution request late in the trial to allow jurors to consider a lesser charge of reckless homicide, saying prosecutors could have done that after the first mistrial.

DuBose’s family said in a statement that they want a new trial and they urged that protests remain peaceful.

Dozens of demonstrators were outside the courthouse with rain coming down Friday afternoon, some chanting: “Black lives matter!”