Deadlocked jury leads to mistrial in murder case
A state judge declared a mistrial yesterday in the murder trial of an Ewa Beach man after the jurors said they could not reach a verdict.
Deputy City Prosecutor Kevin Takata said he will re-try Timothy Adarna before a new jury.
Adarna, 20, is charged with second-degree murder in the Nov. 16, 2006, stabbing death of his stepfather, Robert Ramos, 55.
The jury appears to have been unable to decide whether Adarna was experiencing extreme mental or emotional disturbance, as Adarna had claimed, when he killed Ramos in their Ewa Beach home, said defense lawyer David Hayakawa.
Takata agreed. "That's what it appeared to be," he said.
Hayakawa said, "This supports my claim that the appropriate charge should be manslaughter."
The court handed the case to the jury Friday. During its deliberation, the jury asked three questions in two communications with the court. All dealt with extreme mental or emotional disturbance, Hayakawa said.
The jurors took four votes. In their final vote, 10 jurors thought Adarna was guilty of murder. It takes a unanimous vote of all 12 jurors for a conviction.
The jury did, however, find Adarna guilty of first-degree arson.
Circuit Judge Michael Town scheduled sentencing for October. First-degree arson is a class A felony that carries a mandatory 20-year prison term.
Adarna claims a series of events in the months leading up to Ramos' death had been building up the stress level in the Ramos household, and Ramos confronted him on the morning of Nov. 16, 2006.
He says he doesn't remember killing Ramos but remembers being on top of his dead body. Adarna also claims he doesn't remember starting the fire that burned Ramos' body but remembers when the flames erupted.
Ramos died from stab wounds on both sides of his neck which cut the carotid arteries that transport blood to the head. Takata said Ramos' body also had a stab wound in the back of the neck that fractured a vertebra, a stab wound in the back that punctured a lung, cuts on the face, other cuts on the head consistent with a pickax and defensive wounds on the left hand.