1 Stubborn Juror Holds Out - Mistrial Declared in Shooting of Boston Officer
10/07/2004
By Associated Press
James Gaines
(Boston Herald Photo by Patrick Whittemore)
BOSTON - A mistrial was declared Wednesday when a jury failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a man accused of shooting a Boston Police officer.
Prosecutors vowed to retry James Gaines, who was charged with attempted murder for the August 2002 shooting of officer Zenaida Flores.
Flores, wounded in the arm and leg, was the city's first female officer shot in the line of duty. She recovered from her injuries.
The jury deliberated 2 1/2 days. Judge Barbara Rouse declared a mistrial when the jury informed her it could not reach a verdict.
Gaines, who faces seven charges including assault with intent to murder, remained in custody Wednesday, authorities said.
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Stubborn Juror in Cop's Shooting Mistrial: Why I Held Out
By Laurel J. Sweet and Brian Ballou, Boston Herald
A maverick juror, whose refusal to betray his heart caused the case of an admitted cop-shooter to derail in a mistrial, simply doesn't believe James Gaines is a killer.
"It all came down to the 'intent,' " said the holdout juror, a Boston man who the Herald agreed not to identify. "I don't believe he intended to kill (the officers)."
Superior Court Judge Barbara Rouse declared a mistrial yesterday after a jury of seven men and five women - stymied by the convictions of the lone dissenter - told the new chief justice they were hopelessly hung.
Both officers survived the attack.
Gaines once said he "would never amount to anything," but the ninth-grade dropout achieved what his own family didn't think possible: a second shot at absolution.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said he has "every confidence" in prosecutor Mark Hallal to retry Gaines, 24, a Waltham father of two who briefly worked as a shipper for UPS.
Although the holdout was prepared to find Gaines guilty of assaulting officers Zenaida Flores, 31, and Carlton Williamson, 41, with a loaded .45-caliber firearm stolen from a South Shore gun collector, not a single verdict was returned on the seven indictments Gaines faced.
"Everth," a juror from East Boston, explained that was because the "stubborn and insulting" holdout tried to broker a deal whereby he would declare Gaines guilty of attempted murder if his 11 peers found him not guilty of assault and weapon charges.
"(He) was articulate and he knew the details well," Everth said, "but he was trying to convince everyone from the first day that Gaines wasn't guilty."
Boston police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said she was "extremely disappointed that a mistrial occurred, but I'm confident justice will be served in the end."
The panel, which deliberated less than four days, was shown security video from Aug. 27, 2002, that partially captured Flores' and Williamson's ill-fated wrestling match with Gaines, a known drug dealer haunting Chinatown. But the holdout juror suspected there were more telling tapes investigators didn't turn over.
Flores and Williamson, who dodged five bullets during a running gunbattle, both tearfully testified that Gaines stood over Flores and shot her in the back of the leg even after two bullets had knocked her flat on her face. The holdout argued the officers' memories may have been clouded by stress.
"How do we know (Gaines) shot that weapon?" the juror said. "There may have been three hands on that weapon."
Former partners Flores and Williamson stood stock-still side by side, showing no reaction as Rouse dismissed the jury. Gaines' attorney, Jon Taylor, withdrew from the case.
"This is not the result I wanted," Taylor said. "I'm very surprised that we couldn't get a decision."
Gaines' cousin, Lateisha Fields, a medical assistant from Dorchester, said her family had been worried.
"James didn't intend to kill them," she said, "and I think they (the police) know that."
10/07/2004
By Associated Press
James Gaines
(Boston Herald Photo by Patrick Whittemore)
BOSTON - A mistrial was declared Wednesday when a jury failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a man accused of shooting a Boston Police officer.
Prosecutors vowed to retry James Gaines, who was charged with attempted murder for the August 2002 shooting of officer Zenaida Flores.
Flores, wounded in the arm and leg, was the city's first female officer shot in the line of duty. She recovered from her injuries.
The jury deliberated 2 1/2 days. Judge Barbara Rouse declared a mistrial when the jury informed her it could not reach a verdict.
Gaines, who faces seven charges including assault with intent to murder, remained in custody Wednesday, authorities said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stubborn Juror in Cop's Shooting Mistrial: Why I Held Out
By Laurel J. Sweet and Brian Ballou, Boston Herald
A maverick juror, whose refusal to betray his heart caused the case of an admitted cop-shooter to derail in a mistrial, simply doesn't believe James Gaines is a killer.
"It all came down to the 'intent,' " said the holdout juror, a Boston man who the Herald agreed not to identify. "I don't believe he intended to kill (the officers)."
Superior Court Judge Barbara Rouse declared a mistrial yesterday after a jury of seven men and five women - stymied by the convictions of the lone dissenter - told the new chief justice they were hopelessly hung.
Both officers survived the attack.
Gaines once said he "would never amount to anything," but the ninth-grade dropout achieved what his own family didn't think possible: a second shot at absolution.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said he has "every confidence" in prosecutor Mark Hallal to retry Gaines, 24, a Waltham father of two who briefly worked as a shipper for UPS.
Although the holdout was prepared to find Gaines guilty of assaulting officers Zenaida Flores, 31, and Carlton Williamson, 41, with a loaded .45-caliber firearm stolen from a South Shore gun collector, not a single verdict was returned on the seven indictments Gaines faced.
"Everth," a juror from East Boston, explained that was because the "stubborn and insulting" holdout tried to broker a deal whereby he would declare Gaines guilty of attempted murder if his 11 peers found him not guilty of assault and weapon charges.
"(He) was articulate and he knew the details well," Everth said, "but he was trying to convince everyone from the first day that Gaines wasn't guilty."
Boston police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said she was "extremely disappointed that a mistrial occurred, but I'm confident justice will be served in the end."
The panel, which deliberated less than four days, was shown security video from Aug. 27, 2002, that partially captured Flores' and Williamson's ill-fated wrestling match with Gaines, a known drug dealer haunting Chinatown. But the holdout juror suspected there were more telling tapes investigators didn't turn over.
Flores and Williamson, who dodged five bullets during a running gunbattle, both tearfully testified that Gaines stood over Flores and shot her in the back of the leg even after two bullets had knocked her flat on her face. The holdout argued the officers' memories may have been clouded by stress.
"How do we know (Gaines) shot that weapon?" the juror said. "There may have been three hands on that weapon."
Former partners Flores and Williamson stood stock-still side by side, showing no reaction as Rouse dismissed the jury. Gaines' attorney, Jon Taylor, withdrew from the case.
"This is not the result I wanted," Taylor said. "I'm very surprised that we couldn't get a decision."
Gaines' cousin, Lateisha Fields, a medical assistant from Dorchester, said her family had been worried.
"James didn't intend to kill them," she said, "and I think they (the police) know that."
