SAN DIEGO – Jurors announced Thursday they were unable to reach a verdict in the trial of Nathaniel Gann, who is accused of fatally shooting his stepfather during a phony home-invasion robbery.
BRUCE HUFF Union-Tribune
Nathaniel Gann sits in court as a photo of his sister, Brae Hansen, is shown on the projector screen.
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After deliberating about a day and a half, the jury announced they were split 7 to 5 in favor of guilt, and that no further instruction could help break the deadlock.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Frederic Link declared a mistrial in the case and thanked the six-man, six-woman panel for their service.
“It's not easy to do this job...,” he told the jurors before he dismissed them. “This is a very tough case to be a juror on.”
Link set a Jan. 20 date for Gann's retrial, the same date his sister – also charged in their stepfather's death – is set for trial. Attorneys on both sides of the case said the siblings could still be tried separately.
Another option would be to hold one trial, during which the evidence would be presented to two juries.
Gann, 20, sat in court Thursday listening calmly as he had throughout the seven-day trial. He is accused of murder in the shooting death of Timothy MacNeil, a 63-year-old lawyer. Gann also faces a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait.
If convicted, he could be sent to prison for life without parole.
Gann's lawyer, Ricardo Garcia of the Alternate Public Defender's Office, said outside the courtroom that his client is “doing as well as can be expected” for a young man still facing such serious charges.
“It creates a little bit of hope I suppose,” Garcia said of the deadlock. “But at the same time it's, for him, probably a whole lot of nothing – just more of the same in the future.”
Gann remains held without bail in county jail.
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney George Bennett argued that Gann and his younger sister plotted the killing in detail before carrying it out July 19, 2007. The siblings tried to make it look as though MacNeil was killed during a robbery at his Rolando home.
Gann is accused of firing four shots at his stepfather, including a fatal shot to the back of his head.
Bennett told the jury that Gann's DNA was found on a ski mask recovered from a nearby tree and that neighbors saw a man fitting Gann's description running from the house after the shooting.
The prosecutor said Gann drove to his grandmother's house in Arizona, where he was arrested later.
A witness in the case, Charles Goodman, testified that Gann confessed his role in the slaying while the two shared a jail cell in Arizona, shortly before Gann was extradited to San Diego.
The defense attorney called Goodman a liar and convicted felon whose testimony should not be trusted.
Outside the courtroom Thursday, Garcia complimented the prosecution's efforts in trial, but said the evidence against Gann was problematic.
Garcia had argued that Gann's sister, Brae Hansen, was the mastermind behind the killing.
Dana Littlefield: (619) 542-4590;
dana.littlefield@uniontrib.com
