AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Jurors continued their deliberations in the Christopher Taylor murder trial for a third full day on Monday, but indications are that the panel may be having trouble coming to a unanimous verdict.
Jury members sent a note to Judge Dayna Blazey around 11 a.m. Monday morning, telling her of their inability to reach a unanimous decision. She instructed the jurors to continue their deliberations "without violating your conscience."
Blazey's instructions to the jury are typically referred to as an "Allen charge" and are typically given to a deadlocked jury.
The jury was sent home just before 5 p.m. Monday afternoon, and will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
It was the first time in three days that jurors were back in deliberations, after the court was closed Friday for Veterans Day and some jurors had scheduling conflicts on Saturday.
Taylor is facing a murder charge for the death of Michael Ramos in a south Austin apartment complex parking lot in April 2020. Prosecutors say Taylor's use of deadly force was unjustified.
"Each of you must decide the case for yourself but only after discussion and impartial consideration of the case with your fellow jurors," read instructions from Blazey sent to the jury. "Do not hesitate to re-examine your own views and to change your opinion if you decide you are wrong, but do not surrender your honest belief about the weight and effect of evidence solely because of the opinion of your fellow jurors or for the mere purpose of returning a verdict."
If the jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict, Blazey will be forced to declare a mistrial.
"Any future jury will probably hear the same evidence which has been presented to you," said Blazey in her instructions to the jury. "The questions to be determined by that jury may be the same questions confronting you, and they may not find these questions any easier to decide than you have found them."
The trial began on October 23 and is now in its fourth week.
Earlier Monday, the court dismissed an alternate juror who told Judge Blazey in a letter that she had done her own research on the case. That juror was released, but is still barred from discussing the case until a verdict is handed down.
