Jurors deliberating in the murder trial of two officers who shot and killed homeless camper James Boyd were not able to agree on a verdict.
Three jurors believed the former officers were guilty, while nine argued for a not guilty verdict. Judge Alisa Hadfield declared a mistrial Tuesday afternoon in District Court.
Former detective Keith Sandy and former officer Dominique Perez were charged with second-degree murder in Boyd's death.
After the jury read a verdict, more than a dozen protesters gathered outside of the courthouse.
Surrounded by news cameras and reporters, the group took turns speaking into a megaphone, expressing disappointment that Sandy and Perez weren't convicted before a bit of chanting.
"Jail killer cops," they shouted.
By 7 p.m. most of the protesters had left.
A state district court jury deliberated for two days after hearing 12 days of testimony in state district court in Albuquerque.
Sandy, who retired as a detective in the APD repeat offender program after the shooting, had faced an additional aggravated battery charge.
Perez, a nine year APD veteran assigned to the SWAT team, lost his job after criminal charges were filed. He is appealing his termination to a city hearing officer.
It marked the first time in at least 50 years that an Albuquerque police officer was criminally charged for an on-duty shooting.
The case attracted national attention after video footage from Perez's APD helmet camera was released showing Boyd being fatally shot by Sandy and Perez after a two and a half hour standoff in the Sandia foothills.
Boyd, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, had a history of assaults on police and corrections officers.
(c)2016 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)
