By Jeremiah Marquez, The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For the second time in six months, a jury deadlocked Friday in the assault case against a former Inglewood police officer accused of roughing up a handcuffed, black teenager during a videotaped arrest in 2002.
Superior Court Judge William Hollingsworth declared a hung jury in the case against Jeremy Morse after the panel split 6-6 over whether he used excessive force. The charges carry up to three years in prison.
Morse’s first trial ended last July with the jury deadlocked 7 to 5 in favor of conviction.
Morse, who is white, was shown on the tape slamming Donovan Jackson onto the trunk of a police car and punching him in the face.
The incident occurred at an Inglewood gas station where Jackson and his father had stopped. Authorities were investigating their expired license tags.
Morse’s lawyer has argued that his client had to make a quick decision about how much force was needed to subdue a suspect who had already fought with other officers.
Jackson’s parents said he may have responded to officers slowly because he has trouble understanding instructions.
Although race was never mentioned in the trials, the image of a white officer battering a black youth made national headlines and sparked angry protests in the heavily minority city of Inglewood.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Max Huntsman played a portion of the amateur video. “This conduct is not OK,” Huntsman told the jury. “Follow the law. Because otherwise police officers are nothing more than gang members.”
Morse’s lawyer, John Barnett, told jurors that if they convicted Morse, “no peace officer is safe from groundless prosecution.” He said his client’s use of force was not only necessary but required.