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Michael Jackson-Bolanos
The jury in the murder case of Samantha Woll last week acquitted defendant Michael Jackson-Bolanos on some of the murder counts but deadlocked on others, resulting in a mistrial on those unresolved counts. (Update on proceedings below)
Here, according to a source, is how the deadlocked votes broke down:
Felony Murder: 4 Guilty, 8 Not Guilty.
Second Degree Murder: 7 Guilty, 5 Not Guilty.
Home Invasion: 6 Guilty, 6 Not Guilty.
The jury found Jackson-Bolanos guilty of lying to investigators, which carries a maximum penalty of two years.
Prosecutors sometimes take into account the jurors' votes when deciding whether to retry the hung counts. They may also consider the feelings of the victim's family, which issued a statement after the verdict saying they believed the evidence clearly pointed to Jackson-Bolanos as the murderer.
Woll, 40, was involved in Democratic politics and was president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue.
A pre-trial hearing is set for Thursday at 9 a.m. where it's possible prosecutors willl indiicate if they plan to retry Jackson-Bolanos, 29.
Maria Miller, a spokesperson for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, declined to comment on what her office plans to do in the case.
"We'll be commenting on the next steps on the record in court," she tells Deadline Detroit.
Jackson-Bolanos testified during trial that he stumbled upon Woll's dead body after the murder. Prosecutors argued that he broke into her home and was startled to see her. He then reacted by stabbing her to death.
Defense attorney Brian Brown tells Deadline Detroit that he believes his client should not be prosecuted again.
"My client was innocent, overwhelmingly to say the least."
Brown said he'll argue Thursday that legally it is double jeopardy to retry his client on the hung murder counts when he was acquited on other ones.
"The court should rule in our favor," he said.
On Thursday, a pre-trial hearing was held to determine if the case will be retried.
Wayne County Judge Van Houten, who presided over the trial, gave prosecutors a week to respond to Brown's motion to dismisss the case. The next hearing is set for Aug. 8.
