The jury announced it was deadlocked on Thursday for a third time since deliberations began in the third Cal Harris murder trial. After a full day of deliberations, the jury submitted a note at 4:30 p.m. Thursday saying it was still deadlocked. “After extensive discussion and reexamination of the evidence, we still cannot reach a unanimous decision,” the note said. “We feel each juror is firm in their decision, and again, we are deadlocked.” However, a message at the bottom of the note confused the attorneys. “Not all jurors agree with the above statement,” the note said. Schoharie County Judge George Bartlett dismissed the jury until 12 p.m. Friday so he could speak with the attorneys about the note. After the jury was dismissed, the defense urged the judge to declare a mistrial. “Clearly the jury is deadlocked,” said defense attorney Bruce Barket. “We don’t need to over think this with the little ‘p.s.’ at the bottom of the note.” The prosecution pointed out the confusing and contradictory statements in the note, and suggested the court poll the jurors to see how many of them actually believe they are deadlocked. The judge said he will decide Friday what to do about the situation. The attorneys will meet with the judge at 11 a.m. before the jury arrives at noon. The jury made its first request of the day Thursday at 11 a.m. asking for the legal definitions of “intent” and “reasonable doubt” to be read back. The judge did so, and later at the request of the defense for further clarification, he also read back the entire charge on “murder in the second degree”. The judge explained to jurors in order to find Cal Harris guilty of the single charge of murder in the second degree, the jury must find that Cal intentionally murdered his wife Michele beyond a reasonable doubt. He told jurors they do not have to find Cal guilty “beyond all doubt”, but that it’s not enough to find him “probably guilty”. The jury has spent 52 hours deliberating over 11 days.
