The trial of Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly resulted in a mistrial last week after jurors could not decide if he was responsible for the death of an illegal alien on his property. Prosecutors had asserted that Kelly had shot the illegal despite the lack of any physical evidence linking Kelly to the man's death. According to KTAR News, "Prosecutors say they will not retry an Arizona rancher accused of murder near the US-Mexico border." From the article:
Prosecutors said Monday they will not retry an Arizona rancher whose trial in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a deadlocked jury.
The jurors in the case against George Alan Kelly were unable to reach a unanimous decision on a verdict after more than two days of deliberation. Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial on April 22.
After the mistrial, the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office had the option to retry Kelly — or to drop the case. Fink dismissed the case as requested by prosecutors.
Double jeopardy does not attach to a mistrial (thus the reason they could have immediately retried the case). So prosecutors may have truly decided to drop the case, or they might try to find more evidence and recharge Kelly later. And there is always lurking in the background the possibility that the U.S. Attorney's Office might bring some type of federal charge against Mr. Kelly.
- More: "George Kelly: Prosecutors will not re-try Arizona rancher accused of murder"--Fox 10 Phoenix.
Well, I'll take it as good news.
ReplyDeleteIt is good news; but its not the same as being acquitted.
Delete