ELIJAH JEREMIAH HAMILTON - 3 Months (2008) - Fresno CA

A hung jury was declared Thursday in the trial of a Fresno man accused of
killing his 3-month-old son three years ago.
Eddie Hamilton, 26, was tried in the murder of the infant, Elijah Jeremiah
Hamilton, who died April 18, 2008, of blunt force trauma.
The jurors, who deliberated for four days, were deadlocked on the two counts
that Hamilton faced, murder and child abuse causing death. The jury
foreman, Randy Butler, told Fresno County Superior Court Judge James M.
Petrucelli that the vote was 11-1 in favor of conviction.
"We dodged a bullet," said lawyer Roberto Dulce, who was standing in
Thursday for defense attorney Jim Lambe. "Just one person prevented a conviction."
Butler said outside the courtroom that the jurors were 11-1 in favor of convicting Hamilton since their first vote Monday.


Eddie Hamilton

"We felt it was an open-and-shut case," said Butler, a registered nurse.
Three men and nine women served on the panel.
In the courtroom, Petrucelli asked Butler whether the deadlock could be broken.
"It's the belief that we have exhausted our measures," the foreman replied.
Petrucelli then polled each jury member to ask the same question. One juror asked
if the panel could hear more evidence or jury instructions, but
Petrucelli said they had received all the information that would be available to them.
After another short meeting in the jury room, jurors returned without a verdict and Petrucelli declared a hung jury.
Prosecutor Jeff Dupras, who was standing in for the trial prosecutor, Robert
Mangano, on Thursday, said he couldn't say whether the case will be
retried. However, Hamilton's next court hearing is Dec. 1.
An autopsy found that Elijah had internal bleeding and five rib injuries
that were weeks old and healing. There also were cuts or tears to the
infant's liver, pancreas and small intestine.
Hamilton, who initially said he had playfully tapped on the baby's chest with his
knuckles, admitted to police that he had slugged his son during a diaper
change because the infant was whining.
Juror Patricia Dunn, a paralegal, said many jurors took different approaches to persuade the
lone holdout, who was not identified, to convict Hamilton.
"It's just really sad," she said, "because we don't have justice for Elijah."

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/17/2618463/hung-jury-declared-in-fresno-infants.html#ixzz1e7wqjgan

Sheesh! Unbelievable. I'm losing faith in the judicial jury system.