Update
Jury deadlocked in Madsen murder trial
Judge orders them back to deliberate
A judge Tuesday morning ordered a jury to try again after they said they were unable to reach a verdict in the Caleb Madsen murder trial. In a letter, jurors told Judge Mark S. Curry they were “unable to reach a consensus” on whether the 27-year-old Granite Bay man is guilty of killing his friend and neighbor, Christopher Worth. Jurors got the case on March 5. “We have tried several times and are sure no one will change their minds,” the jurors wrote in the letter, delivered Tuesday morning. But Judge Curry told them his experience is that juries can come to a verdict after ini-tially deadlocking. “On more than one occasion, a jury that’s initially unable to reach a verdict is ultimately able to arrive at a verdict on one or more counts,” he told the jury after convening at the Historic Courthouse in Auburn. He urged them to employ new deliberation methods, such as role-playing or changing discussion leaders. “Do not hesitate to re-examine your own views,” Curry said. Curry did not poll the six-man, six-woman jury to determine where jurors stood. If jurors remain deadlocked, it would be the second time a trial for the murder did not result in a verdict. A previous jury deadlocked seven to five in favor of Madsen's guilt in March 2008 after deliberating for five days. Later Tuesday, jurors the judge for clarification in the use of circumstantial evidence in arriving at a decision. Curry allotted each side 15 minutes to argue over evidence after the jury asked in a letter if they could find the defendant guilty on circumstantial evidence and “ignore the lack of DNA” evidence linked to Madsen. Several drops of blood were found in the driveway of the Madsen residence and two of them were tied through DNA analysis to Worth. But no DNA evidence links Madsen to Worth’s body, his attorney, Mary Beth Acton, has said. In his remarks Tuesday afternoon, Prosecutor Bill Marchi asked jurors to consider a mix of direct and circumstantial evidence, which he said was overpowering. “Just to say that’s not there isn’t to say to ignore the evidence that is there,” he said. Marchi said a statement by Madsen, in which he appears to confess, is also strong direct evidence – and that DNA is not required to convict. “There is no evidence that somebody else killed him,” he said. But Acton countered that if jurors buy the prosecution’s theory of the killing – that Worth was stabbed at the Madsen house and then driven in Worth’s truck to a Granite Bay field – then Madsen’s DNA would have to be evident. “We’re talking about moving a body,” she said. “There is no evidence that links Caleb Madsen to this crime.” Jurors were expected to meet again for deliberations at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
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makes you wonder about the jurrors.................
makes you wonder if the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
It's very hard to blame the jurors when they are doing their civic duty by following the instructions from the judge and considering all the evidence submitted. We all can assume that not all the evidence was admitted into court. Bottom line, maybe the evidence and the investigation wasn't as detailed as it should have been and the prosecution didn't prove their case beyound a resonable doubt. Yes, it is a sad situation for the families but stop blaming the jurors. This is the secord trial and it may result in the same decision as the first...deadlocked/mistrial. Again just a very sad situation for the families to have endure but it isn't the jurors fault!!
I agree with harleyfun. The jurors are asked to make a determination based only on judges instructions and the evidence presented in court. They are not supposed to decide based on a hunch or a feeling, they are supposed to decide based on what has been proven or not proven.
Unfortunately, it appears the Placer County DA may have been a little overzealous in prosecuting this case because there doesn't seem to be enough solid evidence to convict the defendant and the investigation was lacking in the first place.
Did Worth stab himself? Lets be real here. Worths blood in the driveway, missing knife from the family's house.
He must have one good attorney.
No kidding localgirl1976. He does have a good attorney, one that puts doubt in everything (she was also the defense attorney in the Roseville Shaken Baby case in 2007 http://truthinjustice.org/salcedo.htm). This is such a misfortune for both families to have to keep going through all this.
Remember, the burden of proof lies with the prosecuter. Innocent until PROVEN guilty. Two jury's deadlock? It sounds like there is not enough evidence to erase reasonable doubts. localgirl1976- Blood in the driveway and a missing knife are both explainable. I would say, hey, he is a friend who comes over. We ride bikes, board, or whatever and he must have dinged himself and that's how the blood got there. As for the knife, I have a beautiful set of knives on my kitchen counter. I bought it 2 years ago. There are 2 knives missing. See how easily this "evidence" is dismissed? I am not saying he didn't do it. I am saying the evidence we have heard from the media is not convincing. If he did it hopefully there is more evidence than we have heard so he can be found guilty.
appraisalman I get what your are saying I surely hope there is more we are not hearing. I think sometimes we get to focused on the "DNA" of crime yes it has proven many cases beyond a reasonable doubt however somtimes it is what it is.
Walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, looks like a duck it must be a duck.
There is always the possibility that the boys got into an altercation and the stabbing was some form of accident??? but leasves one to wonder about moving the body to the field the weird pose Worths body was in.
Madsen's picture gives me the creeps something not right with that boy??
Unfortnately jurors can't find someone guilt because one might walk like a duck or has certain look about them. The prosection has to prove the case beyond a REASONABLE doubt. It's our legal system and it's far from perfect!
wow I am shocked by some of the comments on here. I hope you guys are never actually jurors in a case because I'd be absolutely terrified of the results! you cannot send someone to jail for LIFE for murdering someone because they look like something is "not right with them" or because it seems like it would make sense for them to have done it. you have to have evidence proving beyond a doubt that they are guilty. look at how many people have been found guilty in history, sentenced to life in prison or even death, and then later evidence is found to clear their name. our justice system isn't perfect and every day people are found guilty who did not do the crime. "Remember, the burden of proof lies with the prosecuter. Innocent until PROVEN guilty. Two jury's deadlock? It sounds like there is not enough evidence to erase reasonable doubts." EXACTLY. the first set of jurors did not believe they had enough evidence to prove he was guilty. this second set of jurors who have seen the same evidence, also cannot come to the conclusion he is guilty based on the evidence. none of that says he is guilty of innocent, it just says there isn't enough evidence to prove he is guilty based off the investigation and what was found. what if you were Madsen, would you want people assuming you killed someone because of how you look or because it seems to fit without evidence? ridiculous.
honestground: please do not get your panties in a knot. I get the proven beyond a reasonable doubt that is why I said he must have a good attorney. If I were on a jury i would expect proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but since i am not i am in entitled to my opinion. I said the guy gives me the creeps & your point is???
You act like he is up there defending himself against the DA. He has representation, pretty darn good representation from what I can tell.
Keep in mind we are only hearing parts of the story here on AJ so we dont really know now do we!
I have said a number of times that I am one of the jurors in the second trial of Caleb Madsen. I was there in that jury room while those 10 jurors demanded that everyone find the defendant guilty after 4 of them in the first vote had voted not guilty. As the days rolled along those 10 became more impatient and demanded that the jury fore person notify the judge that we could not come to a consensus. After being released the fore person was complaining to the D/A and a detective who cornered all twelve jurors in the jury room and attempted to indoctrinate them with propaganda they said was evidence that the judge would not permit to be introduced in the trial. It came out in the trial that they lie to people to accomplish their goal of convicting a person they suspect in this case Caleb Mansen the name they use to describe a lie is a ruse. They admitted to these kinds of tactics during their investigations and it was clear to me that they was attempting to get all the bad propaganda into the jury pool that they could. The ten was literally blaming one of those 2 who voted not guilty for the failure to come to consensus and told the D/A; He just doesn't seem to get the whole picture and he wouldn't speculate with us to work this out. That certainly should shed some light on the situation as far as judging the case based on the facts, something they just refused to do. They even spent 6 days and even agreed to try two different times. They would began to write the facts on a large paper sheet which was on a tri pod and would never complete the effort. Ever so often they would begin to complain and demand we tell the judge that we have a hung jury. They ignored the instructions of the judge almost with every word that came out of their mouth. Some of those on the panel was connected to law enforcement one was a spouse of a federal agent, I wouldn't call that one's peer. At least five had their minds I do believe before we got to the jury roomand I don't have a problem with that, but when they refused to consider the facts I definitely had a problem with that. There is so much more that I won't reveal. Caleb's attorney is very capable and began her career as a public defender and it seems to me that she stepped on some toes while she served there. After sitting through 4 weeks of testimony and hearing the evidence and dealing with the members of the jury I can tell you that the prosecution never proved Caleb Madsen guilty beyond any doubt reasonable or otherwise. It is my opinion that the D/A is wasting the peoples money by their action of refiling the charges with the beginning of the trial scheduled on the 27th of July 2009 and I believe it will have at least the same outcome, on the other hand if the 12 jurors in the new trial actually consider the facts then it will be a not guilty verdict.