Jury deadlock spares white supremacist prison gang members death penalty News
Jury deadlock spares white supremacist prison gang members death penalty

[JURIST] Two members of the Aryan Brotherhood [Wikipedia backgrounder] prison gang, previously found guilty [AP report] on charges of conspiracy, murder, and racketeering in July, will now serve terms of life in prison without parole after the death penalty [JURIST news archive] phase of their proceeding ended in a mistrial Friday. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter of the District Court for the Central District of California [official website] said jurors could not come to a consensus after 4 and a half days of deliberation. Barry "The Baron" Mills and Tyler "The Hulk" Bingham, whose trial began in March [JURIST report], will be formally sentenced November 13. The two other defendants on trial in this case will also serve life sentences.

The trial of the two defendants on charges [BBC backgrounder; 2002 indictment, PDF] under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) [text] was one of the largest capital cases in US history and initially involved 16 defendants initially eligible for the death penalty in connection with 32 murders and attempted murders over a 30-year period in jails across the US. AP has more.