Hamad jury deadlocked tonight; will resume penalty deliverations in morning

WARREN

The jury in the Nasser Hamad aggravated-murder trial concluded it could not reach a decision on punishment for Hamad about 9 p.m. Tuesday and was sequestered at a local hotel overnight.

The jurors will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. today.

Judge Ronald Rice called the jurors and lawyers into the courtroom and allowed spectators and news media in the courtroom as he announced the deadlocked deliberations.

The judge said the jury of six men and six women would not be allowed to have their cellphones at the hotel but would be allowed to call their family from the hotel. As always, they were cautioned not to read any news media accounts or talk about the case to anyone, or allow anyone to talk about it in their presence.

The jury deliberated for about 9 1/2 hours, in contrast with the decision it made in the guilt/innocence phase Oct. 30, when they found Hamad, 48, of Howland, guilty on all counts – two counts of aggravated murder and six counts of attempted aggravated murder – in a little more than 1 1/2 hours.

Hamad killed Joshua Haber, 19, and Joshua Williams, 20, and injured April Trent-Vokes, 42, her son John Shively, 17, and Bryce Hendrickson, 19, Feb. 25 in a confrontation with the five in front of Hamad’s home on state Route 46 in Howland.

Jurors asked the judge several questions throughout the afternoon, but the content of the questions is not known.

If the jury becomes deadlocked and does not reach a decision, it is believed that Judge Rice can decide Hamad’s punishment, but he would only be allowed to pick one of the three life options available to the jury – life in prison without parole or life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 or 30 years.

Prosecutors and one of Hamad’s defense attorneys gave closing arguments in the case that lasted less than an hour when the trial began for the day at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Read more about the case in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.