A jury found John F. Gustites guilty of third-degree murder for shooting his son, John A., in the face back back in September of last year.
The jury reached the verdict Wednesday morning following hours of deliberation that began yesterday during the applesauce drama and continued into today.
At the end of the day Tuesday, the jury convened back in Schuylkill County Courthouse to tell Judge Chris Hobbs that they were deadlocked on all counts. Hobbs ordered the jury to return Wednesday morning to continue deliberating.
Deliberations did commence Wednesday but were again stalled when a note was passed to Hobbs regarding problems with one juror and an alternate juror. Hobbs summoned the jury foreperson to Courtroom 1 to inquire about the issues with the jury panel.
Hobbs essentially ignored the issue regarding the alternate juror and focused on one juror that was deliberating the case. The note he received indicated that Juror #4 believed Juror #12 was unwilling and unable to deliberate the facts in the case, that he was stuck on believing Gustites acted in self-defense when he killed his son.
On Tuesday, Hobbs told jurors they were not permitted to consider a self-defense argument from Gustites.
The foreperson testified Wednesday and confirmed to Hobbs that Juror #12 was “bringing up things you told us to disregard.”
Hobbs then called Juror #12 to the stand and asked if he was continuing to bring up a self-defense argument, even though he was told to ignore it. The juror confirmed that and said, “The Commonwealth didn’t prove to me the defendant is guilty. I believe the defendant was threatened by the decedent.”
“I’ve told you not to consider anything but what the facts are,” Hobbs told Juror #12.
The judge further told Juror #12 that “we need to find a way to get beyond that.”
He asked Juror #12 if he was able to do that. After a brief pause, Juror #12 said, “No, I’m not.”
Hobbs then disqualified the juror and ordered an alternate to take his place.
Gustites’ attorney, Kent Watkins, immediately moved for a mistrial but Hobbs denied that, saying the juror was “ignoring my instructions.”
After the jury with the alternate was brought together again for deliberations, they returned a verdict a short time later.
In addition to the third-degree murder charge, the jury also found Gustites guilty of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and simple assault. Gustites was found not guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
Sentencing will be held at a future date.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Our details from the testimony in this case is extremely limited due to covering another trial going on simultaneously at Schuylkill County Courthouse.
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