BRIGHTON — An Adams County jury says it’s “unable to come to a consensus” on the mental status of a man accused of killing Aurora Police Detective Mike Thomas.
One day into its deliberations, the jury asked Judge Vincent Phelps how to proceed with the problem.
It’s a question that rests right at the heart of this case, and a question that could indicate the jury will be unable to render a verdict in this high-profile case.
Brian Washington’s defense attorney has said all along that Washington shot and killed Thomas on September 18, 2006 as Thomas waited for a red light at the intersection of Peoria and Montview. She asked the jury to consider a “not guilty by reason of insanity” verdict. She believes Washington suffered from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killing and was unable to distinguish between right and wrong.
On Tuesday, when instructing the jury before it started deliberations, Judge Phelps gave them the lesser option of second-degree murder in what has been to this point a first-degree murder case.
When the jury told Judge Phelps on Wednesday it was “unable to come to a consensus,” he asked the jury to continue with its deliberations in an effort to see if any jurors are capable of changing their minds.
If the jury is unable to come to a consensus by the end of the day, the jurors will be asked in open court on Thursday morning if they are incapable of reaching a verdict.
Read more about the Washington case .
