SALEM - A juror who was the sole holdout in the case against a Lawrence man charged with failing to register as a sex offender locked himself in a Salem Superior Court bathroom yesterday and refused to deliberate, leading to a mistrial in the case.
The juror, who was pointed out to a reporter by his fellow jury members, refused to give his name or say specifically why he had gone into the bathroom. He did say he did not believe the prosecutor had proven her case against Ismael Nieves. He wouldn't say why he didn't stay in the jury room and try to persuade the other jurors to see his point of view.
Nieves, 50, was facing a five-year minimum mandatory prison term if the jury convicted him of failing to register as a sex offender, because it would have been his second offense. Nieves had been convicted in 2003 of the same crime.
Jurors knew none of that but were told that he had been convicted of rape, which is why he had to register. Nieves was convicted of raping two girls in the early 1980s.
They began deliberating on Wednesday afternoon, and those deliberations continued yesterday morning. Then, the jury sent a note to Judge Mary-Lou Rup, explaining the situation: The juror had gone into the bathroom and was refusing to come out and deliberate.
The note did not identify the juror, and Rup decided against asking. Prosecutor Jana DiNatale was allowed to conduct criminal record checks of the entire jury to see if any of them had a history that might suggest mental illness.
But Rup also cited case law that suggests a judge cannot remove a juror simply because he is "unusually stubborn or eccentric."
While DiNatale was obtaining the records, the jury sent a second note, saying they were hopelessly deadlocked. The note did not mention whether the holdout juror had come out of the bathroom at that point. But he did join the rest of the jury when they returned to the courtroom.
He was the only one smiling.
Rup quickly granted defense lawyer Kirk Bransfield's motion for a mistrial.
A new trial is not likely to take place until sometime next year because of the court's schedule. Nieves remains free on $1,000 cash bail.
The juror, who was pointed out to a reporter by his fellow jury members, refused to give his name or say specifically why he had gone into the bathroom. He did say he did not believe the prosecutor had proven her case against Ismael Nieves. He wouldn't say why he didn't stay in the jury room and try to persuade the other jurors to see his point of view.
Nieves, 50, was facing a five-year minimum mandatory prison term if the jury convicted him of failing to register as a sex offender, because it would have been his second offense. Nieves had been convicted in 2003 of the same crime.
Jurors knew none of that but were told that he had been convicted of rape, which is why he had to register. Nieves was convicted of raping two girls in the early 1980s.
They began deliberating on Wednesday afternoon, and those deliberations continued yesterday morning. Then, the jury sent a note to Judge Mary-Lou Rup, explaining the situation: The juror had gone into the bathroom and was refusing to come out and deliberate.
The note did not identify the juror, and Rup decided against asking. Prosecutor Jana DiNatale was allowed to conduct criminal record checks of the entire jury to see if any of them had a history that might suggest mental illness.
But Rup also cited case law that suggests a judge cannot remove a juror simply because he is "unusually stubborn or eccentric."
While DiNatale was obtaining the records, the jury sent a second note, saying they were hopelessly deadlocked. The note did not mention whether the holdout juror had come out of the bathroom at that point. But he did join the rest of the jury when they returned to the courtroom.
He was the only one smiling.
Rup quickly granted defense lawyer Kirk Bransfield's motion for a mistrial.
A new trial is not likely to take place until sometime next year because of the court's schedule. Nieves remains free on $1,000 cash bail.
