Mistrial declared in case of cop accused of killing girl

Elisha Anderson | Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — The trial of a Detroit police officer accused of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 7-year-old girl during a raid has ended in a hung jury.

The jury reported back shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday that it couldn't reach a verdict even though the judge earlier in the day had asked jurors to continue deliberating the case of Officer Joseph Weekley, who was charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a firearm causing death.

Family members of Aiyana Stanley-Jones began crying as the judge declared a mistrial and dismissed the jury.

Aiyana was shot in the head as the Detroit Police Department's Special Response Team executed a search warrant for a murder suspect May 16, 2010. Weekley, 37, is accused of gross negligence resulting in Aiyana's death during a raid at a home.

Aiyana was sleeping in the front room when police entered and she was shot.

Aiyana's mother, Dominika Stanley, was too distraught to speak after the mistrial was declared. She and other family members stood outside the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice downtown.

Aiyana's grandmother, Mertilla Jones, told a reporter that Weekley was a liar. Jones said she never touched Weekley's gun as he claimed during his trial testimony. Weekley had testified he unintentionally pulled the trigger of his gun after another person hit his weapon.

Jones said she believes in the next jury: "She (Aiyana) is going to get justice."

Ron Scott, spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, said prosecutors have a difficult time convicting police officers because people don't want to believe an officer would shoot a 7-year-old.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Moran told jurors that Weekley's failure to use ordinary care caused Aiyana's death, but Weekley's lawyer, Steve Fishman, contended the girl died in a tragic accident.

Jurors signaled their deadlock earlier in the afternoon when they sent a note to Wayne County Circuit Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway.

"We are stuck," the note said.

She brought the jurors into court shortly after 1 p.m. and asked them to continue deliberations. Hathaway also told jurors to send another note if they couldn't reach a verdict.

"Go back to the jury room and resume your deliberations," she told the panel of eight men and four women this afternoon.

They had been trying to reach a verdict since Friday following eight days of testimony in Weekley's trial.

Jurors could have acquitted Weekley, found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter, a felony, or of a lesser charge of careless discharge of a firearm causing death, a misdemeanor.

Hathaway addressed the jury for about 7 minutes Tuesday and also addressed a question from a second note concerning the elements required for an involuntary manslaughter conviction.

At the time of the night raid, a cable television crew accompanying police were outside the home and shot video. It shows a flash-bang device exploded and about 3 seconds later a gunshot can be heard on the video played for jurors during the trial.

Chauncey Owens, the suspect police were targeting, had been seen going through both units in the duplex, and police testified they had a search warrant for the upper and lower flats. Owens, who was arrested that night, was in the upstairs flat at the time of the raid; Aiyana was in the lower flat.