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After more than
17 hours of discussions, the jury said it was still split on
whether to find Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy guilty of the
second degree murder of James Boyd, with nine of the 12 members
favoring acquittal, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Officials have said Boyd was armed with knives and camping
illegally in the Sandia foothills outside Albuquerque. Police
had approached him and shot him after a four-hour standoff.
Protests erupted after Boyd's shooting, which came at a time
when the U.S. Justice Department was already investigating the
police force over accusations of using force on civilians.
Lawyers for Perez and Sandy had argued the officers were
justified in opening fire because they were protecting an
officer who had moved closer to the 38-year-old homeless man,
the paper reported.
Special prosecutor Randi McGinn, who handled the case, said
Bernalillo County's incoming district attorney, Raśl Torrez,
would now decide whether to try the men again.
Albuquerque officials last year agreed to pay $5 million to
Boyd's family to settle a wrongful death brought in civil court.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Toby
Chopra)
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