Ray Tensing Trial Verdict – Hung Jury, Mistrial Declared
If you’re unfamiliar with the case, please see coverage of the trial at this link.
The jury of 10 Whites and 2 Blacks deadlocked. The decision came on the fourth day of deliberations.
Ohio Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan accepted the jury’s deadlock Saturday morning. The case is now back in the hands of prosecutors who must decide whether they will retry the case or dismiss it. Ray Tensing remains free on a $1 million bond.
Cincinnati.com reports that after the judge lifted the gag order, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters revealed the jury voted eight to four in favor of a voluntary manslaughter conviction. Three jurors were willing to find Tensing guilty of murder.
The deadlocked jury is not rare in cases involving police officer shootings of unarmed citizens. The jury deadlocked in the trial of Charlotte, North Carolina police officer Randall Kerrick for killing unarmed Jonathan Ferrell. The jury deadlocked in the trial of Baltimore police officer William Porter, in the death of Freddie Gray. In New Mexico, two officers stood trial for the killing of James Boyd, a White homeless man. The jury deadlocked. Richmond police officer David L. Cobb was put on trial for killing of 18-year-old Paterson Brown Jr. The jury deadlocked.
In the Ray Tensing trial, the defense said Dubose used his car as a weapon, and Tensing pulled his gun when he feared for his life as he was dragged. Prosecutors maintained that Tensing was not dragged. They presented bodycam footage and frame-by-frame photos showing that Tensing shot Dubose in the head before Dubose’s car moved.
Yesterday, the jury had a question about the meaning of arrest. It shows how juries go beyond testimony and evidence presented at trial and in this case, in what appears to hold the victim at fault, justifying death. No where on the video does Tensing tell Dubose he is under arrest. Additionally, the jury instructions included that officers cannot use deadly force on fleeing suspects.
Jury Deadlocked
Posted on 11/12/2016, in Cases, Sam DuBose, Trial Videos and tagged deadlocked, jury, mistrial, Ohio, Ray Tensing, Sam DuBose, trial. Bookmark the permalink. 43 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
I doubt we will see a retrial.
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I think prosecutors will re-try. In general, when a majority of jurors want a finding of guilt, prosecutors use the trial as dress-rehearsal and know what changes to do in a re-trial. Now, it’s being reported that none of the jurors wanted Tensing found not guilty. Rather, they didn’t agree whether to find him guilty of murder or manslaughter.
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I think the prosecutor did an excellent job disproving Tensing’s “story.” The screenshots of the prosecutor’s video expert left no doubt as to what really happened.
I am glad you pointed out why the prosecutors will re-try.
I still have not gotten over the shirt with the confederate flag that Tensing was wearing under his uniform.
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I take it by this that all jurors found Tensing guilty but couldn’t agree on the charge.
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Oh. I thought that of the 8 that said he was guilty of voluntary manslaughter also thought he was guilty of murder.
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Oh. I thought that of the 8 that said he was guilty of voluntary manslaughter 4 of them also thought he was guilty of murder.
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Here’s the video with the prosecutor. It sounds somewhat confusing because there were 2 possible charges, Those jurors who decided he was guilty of murder said he was not guilty of manslaughter — because he was guilty of murder.. Those jurors who decided that Tensing was guilty of manslaughter voted not guilty on murder — because his offense was manslaughter.
Maybe the easiest way to explain it is, 4 said guilty of murder, and 8 said guilty of manslaughter. Those who decided on murder were not voting for the lesser charge, and those voting guilty on the lesser charge were not changing their vote to murder.
So, either way it goes, all 12 jurors decided that Tensing was guilty of either murder or manslaughter, which is much different that having jurors believe he was not guilty of either offense.
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I’m glad that’s the case. Much better than enabling citizens who let cops walk!
By the way, the captain of the Fullerton Police Department who took over after homeless man Kelly Thomas was murdered there in 2011 recently resigned. He took as much flack as the guy he replaced when public sentiment heated up and forced the city to fire the cops and the county to prosecute the murdering cops who walked after their so-called trial. Hughes was better than that guy but still resistant to handling many things the way he should have . . . Kelly’s Corner is still decorated and still a gathering place for people who leave food and water for the homeless, etc.
The prosecutor who oversaw the lukewarm prosecution of Kelly Thomas’s murdering cops is now under fire due to his corrupt practices in another case that should have been a slam-dunk murder trial – the Seal Beach salon murders, by a mass shooting by an angry husband. The prosecutor basically complicated the trial by using unnecessary jailhouse snitches and an awake public defender found him out and called him on it. But it’s caused a lot of anguish for friends and families of the victims who have to endure yet another trial which hasn’t started yet. So sort of a paradox. Nailed the corruption but caused lots of pain. The OC prosecutors’ office has used jailhouse snitches in an aggressive and illegal way for at least 30 years.
Sorry for the off-topic . . . hung juries make me think of these local events . . .
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Just wanted to note that I’ve never seen police testify against another one like they did in Slager’s trial. It gave me a good measure of respect, but only for that particular police organization.
I think this case was prosecuted pretty well too. I don’t recall much of the other cops testimony, but i don’t think they were honest. They don’t need to be testifying ‘against’ their fellow officer necessarily, but they have to be forthright with what they saw. It’s sickening thinking of cops covering up for someone who murdered someone just because they work together. I wouldn’t cover up a murder for my own sister, why would i do it for a co-worker?
Those types of cops ruin their profession.
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Ok when I read the other day that one side (I assumed the prosecution) showed that Tensing was wearing a Confederate shirt under his uniform the day of the shooting was the reason for the mistrial.
Can anyone explain why the prosecution did that?
That sounds like a tactic that Angela Cory would have used in the Zimmerman trial if she had not been too cowardly to have thrown the trial herself instead of outsourcing it to her minions.
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the way the prosecutor mentioned the confederate flag shirt & the award for most black ppl stopped was sorta random. he never really said Tensing was racist, i guess it was just to give the jury the impression that Tensing had those tendencies.
I did like when the prosecutor said it was kinda effed up that Tensing put a black man in handcuffs at a traffic stop, in front of his whole family including his kids. (I actually want to see that video of those stops because hearing that at the closing pissed me off too. WTF do you get handcuffed at traffic stop for???seriously? I’d like to see how many white ppl Tensing pulled over and just cuffed a man in front of his kids)
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Shannon,
Tensing’s other traffic stops are in the following video, starting around 19:30. The first is where he handcuffed the driver.
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The video doesn’t seem to be working.
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Yahtzee,
Thanks for letting me know. It’s fixed now. (((Hugs)))
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I’m watching this video of the stop tensing made before Sam & I’m literally shaking with rage!!!!!
So this state agent treats this guy like murder suspect for a traffic ticket! Not even a moving violation. Just because he didn’t have one of the tags on the car!! Keys taken. Hand cuffed. Frisked. Stuffed in the police car. All this for a drivers license I take was prolly suspended due to the prior 20x he’s been stopped & given $100’s of tickets he can’t afford!?( I can’t understand much of what’s said in this video so I’m assuming its his DL now )
But my DL has been suspended tons of times for not having insurance or not paying tickets. But never in my life has some cop tried to open my car door, much less handcuff me while giving me a ticket!!! This kind of discriminatory treatment is so demoralizing to ppl, it really can’t be excused. I wonder how many jurors saw this & thought the same thing I am. How could showing this not backfire on the defense? I mean they played this video as a way to make Tinsing look good, seem nice?!?!!? Omg!!
This is outrageous. I can’t handle it
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The prosecution presented all of the clothing that Tensing was wearing. At cross examination of Tensing, he was asked why his shirt was not torn to shreds from being dragged. Tensing’s answer was about damage to his gun belt.
Tensing was also asked about the t-shirt and said that a relative got it for him. Had there been a charge of violation of civil rights, the prosecution might have expounded on Tensing’s answer and asked if the t-shirt was a gift, or if he asked the relative to specifically purchase it for him. He might have also asked why Tensing, in the State of Ohio, would have anything with a confederate flag on it.
I’m not sure if Ohio has a statute for crimes committed due to racial animus.
A difference is with the Slager case. He has been charged federally for violating Walter Scott’s civil rights, and that is common when states do not have their own violation of civil rights statutes.
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Thanks for the explanation, Xena, but if Tensing had been convicted I am sure his lawyers would have used it in their appeal claiming that the jury had been biased by the t-shirt and if he is tried again it will at least be a question during vior dire.
It’s too bad the four who wanted him convicted of murder didn’t compromise with the other 8 and agree to convict him of voluntary manslaughter.
Xena, do you what the maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter is in Ohio?
I wonder why Tensing didn’t opt for a bench trial. Was the evidence that overwhelming that his lawyers decided to take a chance that one out of twelve jurors wouldn’t convict or the jury would at least be hung as happened to be the case.
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I think bringing up racism in these cases is probably a good thing. instead of pretending ‘it’s not a factor in this case’ type of attitude we see so often.
Isn’t it about time to confront it head on. even the subtle, implicit bias should be concidered as part of the motives. And let white ppl (especially on juries) know that it’s ok to recognize the racism & aknowledge what we all know is there.
Of course a murder like this one caught on video, shouldn’t need more explainations, because its on video! but getting it out there, all of the little details is gonna make ppl uncomfortable at first. but only until they get used to it. racism should be easier to talk about so we can flush it out.
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After Tuesday’s results–NO it isn’t a good idea.
I kept wondering why Giuliani kept going after Beyonce’-because a certain segment the one that wasn’t counted by the pollsters resent any black person with money and power.
It also struck me as funny that someone booked both Beyonce and the Dixie Chicks to perform at the CMA two days before the election.
Lots of conservatives both country music fans and non fans still hold a grudge against the Dixie Chicks whether they admit it or not.
I am sure the presence of both Beyonce’ and the Dixie Chicks in a white conservative venue amped up enough Trump supporters in Wisconsin and Michigan to put him over the top.
Conservatives never forget and never forgive and contrary to the stereotype act on their on their emotions even though they claim that is how liberals make decisions.
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i am a conservative and nothing you wrote applies to me……..this is a problem folks taking “sides” as if all of either side share the same characteristics……..this trial shows how bad our system has become…..when the video clearly shows he did NOT get dragged and was NEVER in any danger, yet he testifies LIES and the judge doesnt immediately charge him with PERJURY our system is RIGGED……when a person claims i didnt mean to hurt him even though i put a bullet into his brain that is PERJURY……..
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OMG you’re right. i never gave any thought about the animosity towards Beyonce. I stopped watching most cable news.
What i did find really disturbing was Guliani’s uncontrollable arrogance & confidence that caused him to sorta let the cat out of the bag about the FEDS imminent interference with the election. It was the part where he said “we’re not going to go downnnn!”
The tone he had shocked me. It was so nasty. as if they had the POWER & the RIGHT to do WTF they wanted to do.
And “Crooked Hilary” & “Libtards” have no fuckin right to challenge their authority!
That statement; “we’re not going down” & his absolute conviction making it, is, in my gut, profound evidence of a conspiracy to take the election.
I am devastated by this fraud getting in the white house, I know there’s a lot of ppl doing what they can to stop it from happening. I’ve seen several different tactics in the works so i’m not completely hopeless. One has got to work!! That POS can’t be our president!!!
Its around mark 25seconds i think.
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What kills me is that Comey once worked for Giuliani so he probably heard it directly from him.
I was watching MSNBC several weeks ago and it was around 1 am and Brian Williams came on and he showed a clip of Trump back during the summer and Trump was talking about Anthony Weiner’s emails.
I was like that was very interesting–I can only imagine what will happen after Trump starts to publicly revealing secret intelligence publicly and will his children have access to it?
The next four years will be an extended episode of Married With Children and Trump will be Al Bundy.
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No. I CAN’T STAND IT!! Someone please stop this nightmare!
I’ve found this person in Miami on twitter named Shoq, they have like a website that tells us who & how to write to or call in the electoral college in our state. I’m going to at least try to do a call or letter myself.
I’ve stayed away from watching any of the news since the election. i’ve barely seen anything that chump has said, but i just saw a video about deportations and i’m again traumatized. I’m in miami, so many spanish ppl here, i can’t even imagine how helpless they feel.
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Roderick,
One thing I recently learned about narcissists is that they can’t hold water. If they think information can be used to intimidate, they don’t care if it’s a national secret or even if it comes back to bite them in the butt.
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Roderick,
Know what? It’s been said of me that I’m so far left that you can’t wedge anything between me and left. 🙂 However, I’ve voted Republican in local political races, and have the tendency to vote for local Republican judges. My reasons are too many to explain. I will say that since the 80’s, neither party is what it once was, which makes it important to look at the candidate rather than the party label.
When the so-called “moral majority” got involved in politics, they wanted politicians who support controlling the free choices of consenting adults other than themselves. It is my belief that people should vote based on what candidates are going to do to make their lives better rather than make the lives of others miserable.
Bernie Sanders ran under the Democratic ticket for presidential candidate, but his political service has been as an Independent. Hindsight — I wish he had ran on an Independent ticket. It would have taken the bite out of division with his supporters being told to support Hillary.
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I am not going to question or judge your politics because they are always personal besides I am not an argumentative person
I agree with you completely that neither party is what it used to be.
The corporatists took over the Democratic party with the rise of the DLC of which Bill Clinton was a prominent member.
I never really liked Obama and assumed he was trying too hard to sell himself in 2008. As a Taurus I prefer substance over style and Obama’s Leo dramatics left me sitting at home on election night in 2008 fairly unaffected that by the election of the first black president mainly because I knew that the backlash would be swift and severe. I would have gladly traded history for a white president who would have governed as a true liberal not a as a center right president.
But I did vote for him in 2012 after Ann Romney went on tv and stated that she worried about Mitt’s mental/emotional health if he became president which is the same reason I supported Hillary-not because she would have been the first female president or that she was without her flaws but because I am afraid that Trump is going pop off at the mouth and start nuclear war with another emotionally/mentally unstable leader like Kim-Jong-un of North Korea.
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Roderick,
Re:
It will be Russia and North Korea. Trump is not going to follow-through on a promise to Putin. It won’t be nuclear. We will survive, but it’s going to be a rough 6-8 months.
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I was reading a Slate article a week or so ago and it was about several computer scientists had found something interesting.
Apparently one of the computer servers in Trump Towers was communicating with a Russian bank (Alfa) and once the news was made public that server was shut down and another server was activated and it was communicating with that same bank.
I believe that Trump owes that bank a good deal of money and that is why he wouldn’t release his tax returns and why he publicly praises Putin.
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Roderick,
That is very interesting. Thanks for the info.
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Shannon,
If the law isn’t on the books, a person cannot be prosecuted for it. People can hate each other because of the color of their skin. That’s not against the law. If they harm or deprive people because of a constitutionally protected trait, then it is a federal offense. Most states do not have a law that protects people from being harmed due to race, religion, disability,gender, gender preference.
The elephant should be brought in the room during the application process and training of law enforcement. Bringing it into the courtroom when there’s no charge of violation of civil rights due to race can distract from the actual crime.
I suspect in Slager’s and Roof’s federal trials that we will see that elephant.
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But couldn’t it go to a motive? A part of the motive? I don’t know but i know you’re right. But we all know racism has something to do with some of these crimes, like zimmerman. I just wish it was openly discussed instead of ignoring it.
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Roderick,
Maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter in Ohio is 11 years.
You raise a good question about why he didn’t opt for a bench trial.
Of course, when it comes to hung juries, defense attorneys would prefer seeing that the majority was for acquittal of all charges which limits the possibility of there being another trial.
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@ Bill Taylor
Please go back and read my post- I said ‘lots’ I never said all conservatives subscribe to this mentality, but enough did to help Trump win Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan.
But most conservatives respond to the negative emotions of fear, anger and rage.
Trump is just a vessel for the impotent rage many working class whites who have experienced over the past four decades stagnant wages and the changing demographics which expose them to faces that don’t look like theirs are feeling.
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“Conservatives never forget and never forgive and contrary to the stereotype act on their on their emotions even though they claim that is how liberals make decisions.” there is the part i object to correctly….not here to argue it serves no purpose just making a valid POINT not all liberals or conservatives are the “same” each group is full of differing people with differing views….i find the liberals here to be easy to get along with because you folks are reasonable……i find any claim that all conservatives are the same offensive because it simply is NOT TRUE.
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If all 12 jurors say he is guilty of ‘something’ how could they possibly dismiss the charges? Does the jury know there’s a possibility of the charged being dropped?
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Mindyme,
The charges have not been dismissed and will only be dismissed if the prosecutor does not have a retrial. By all signs, that retrial is going to happen.
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I hope so Xena.
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Mindyme,
I do too. Maybe we’ll hear of the prosecution’s decision soon.
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He’s free on a million dollar bond. This is disgusting
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A lot has happened. President Trump. He got the electoral vote. Hilary won the popular vote and lost the presidency. She can contest This but isn’t. This used to be rare. Now it’s happened twice in 16 yrs. There’s talk of Chelsea Clinton for Congress. If that goes through expect Chelsea for president 2024 or 2028.
Those of us who condemn and fight racism/injustice won’t and shouldn’t give up.
Tensing mistrial no surprise. I expect the same for Slager.
Also more police officers killed since my last post. Of course since the killers are white, no War on Cops, no massive outrage. Even if the ,”pro police” people don’t cover LEO deaths evenly we will. We don’t cheapen lives.
Final
Last month FBI revealed that in 2015 less LEOs were killed than in 2014.
So where is this war on Cops?
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This was for the open forum.
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Chuquest,
If you want, you can copy and paste it on the open thread.
You are motivated and informative on the issue. So, I was wondering if you will consider accepting writer privileges for this blog so you can write posts?
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Xena, I want to say I am very honored. You have my email address. I am very interested and would like to discuss all requirements,options,particulars whatever you are asking and need.
Thank you.
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