The second trial of a teenager charged in the death of a man in a fiery Boyle Heights car crash ended Thursday with the jury acquitting him of second-degree murder but deadlocking on a lesser count of involuntary manslaughter.
The panel deliberated about 2 1/2 days before acquitting Jorge Ruiz, now 18, of second-degree murder and carjacking in connection with the Nov. 23, 2014, death of Oscar Perez, 19.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Henry J. Hall declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked on the involuntary manslaughter count. Hall reduced Ruiz’s bail from $1 million to $10,000.
The judge scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, at which time the prosecution is expected to announce if it wants to proceed with a third trial.
Jurors in Ruiz’s first trial acquitted him in September of first-degree murder and deadlocked 9-3 — with the majority in favor of acquittal — on second-degree murder and carjacking.
During opening statements in Ruiz’s first trial, the prosecutor told jurors that the victim and his brother chased after a car after the vehicle struck the victim’s gray Nissan Altima.
The siblings confronted the then-17-year-old driver — later identified as Ruiz — after his vehicle crashed into a pole. Perez jumped in the car and held on for “dear life” as Ruiz tried to drive away, authorities said. The vehicle crashed into a nearby building and burst into flames, Neal said.
Ruiz’s lawyer, Gerald Williams, told jurors in his client’s first trial that the car in which Ruiz had been riding was rammed from behind by the Altima during the chase and that his client “wasn’t trying to carjack anybody” or to steal a car.
“He was trying to get away. He was afraid. He didn’t know what these people were going to do,” Williams said, telling jurors that there was a scuffle between the two teens inside the car and that the vehicle accelerated.
The defense attorney said that Ruiz broke both of his legs in the crash, with his injuries resulting in him being brought into court in a wheelchair.
Ruiz’s lawyer said outside court that he plans to ask the judge to dismiss the case against Ruiz at next week’s hearing.
— Wire reports