December 20, 2002 E-mail story
Print Jury Unable to Agree in Threat Case Jurors can't decide whether the violent rhetoric of South Gate Treasurer Albert Robles was criminal. Mistrial is declared. By Richard Marosi, Times Staff Writer A judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the criminal trial of South Gate Treasurer Albert Robles, after jurors said they were deadlocked on all seven felony counts. The 10-man, two-woman jury in Norwalk split almost evenly on charges that Robles had threatened to kill two state legislators, a political consultant and a South Gate police lieutenant. Some jurors said later that the panel agreed that limits should be placed on violent political rhetoric, but that they were not convinced that statements Robles had made, including talk of killing and raping political enemies, amounted to criminal conduct. The mistrial ended an unusual proceeding in which jurors were asked to test the legal boundaries between heated political language and physical threats. <snip> http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-robles20dec20,0,2963975.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dcalifornia -- "Intended only for lawful uses." -HP Computer Advert