The judge said it was due to sworn and dismissed jurors discussing the case among themselves.
Frederick County Court House
Frederick, Md (KM) A mistrial was declared on Thursday in the trial of Santos Felipe Reyes-Valle, 39, of Frederick. He was scheduled to go on trial this week for the murder of Jose Pedro Hernandez, 40, of Frederick. He was found with stab wounds in the parking lot of the Home Depot on May 17th, 2023.
Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith says this mistrial comes before the prosecution and defense had the chance to present their respective cases in court. “Witnesses were not called to the stand so there is no double jeopardy issue that’s involved in this case,. But the judge did note about five different violations that occurred by the sworn and dismissed jurors,”: says Smith.
He says some sworn and dismissed jurors discussed the case among themselves when Circuit Court Judge Kathleen English, the presiding judge in this case, told them not to. “She ordered them not to discuss the case for any reason whatsoever. She said that they disregarded that instruction of the court. So she officially ruled it a mistrial. She found what we call manifest necessity for a mistrial,,” he says.
Smith says Judge English found there was no way around the five different violations committed by sworn and dismissed jurors. “She said she explored all the alternatives to try to get a fair trial for both the state and defendant, quite frankly,” he says. . “But there were no alternatives and therefore the case was declared a mistrial and will be tried again. We’ll get a new trial date in about 30 days.”
The judge said neither the state nor the defense did anything wrong, but these jurors repeatedly discussed the case against the instructions not to do so, Smith says.
“The idea is, of course, you want jurors that are not coming that are prejudiced, biased or heard about the facts of the case. We want them to hear only the facts and evidence that’s presented by the state and defense during the pendency of the trial. Those people who come with a preconceived notion of guilt and innocence we don’t want on a jury,”: Smith says.
But that wasn’t the case this time, according to Smith. “Unfortunately, some of the jurors had discussed that they had Googled it and some were familiar with it previously. They did not reveal that to the judge when asked during what we call the voir dire process or the questioning process of jurors prior to them being sat on a panel,” he says.
In the meantime, Reyes-Valle will remain held at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center.
By Kevin McManus