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Mistrial in Lovelace case

Mistrial in Lovelace case

8 years, 1 month ago by Scott Hardy

New trial set for May 31

A mistrial was declared Friday night in the 1st Degree Murder trial of Curtis T. Lovelace. The jury of 10 women and 2 men told Judge Bob Hardwick that they were hopelessly deadlocked, and could not reach a verdict. In an Adams County courtroom, Judge Hardwick recounted the timeline of the hung jury, saying that they first notified him at 2:00 P.M. Friday afternoon that they were deadlocked. Hardwick said he told the jury to keep trying, which they did. Hardwick then said the jury notified him at 4:00 P.M. that “they just needed an hour” to come to a verdict. At 4:50 P.M., Hardwick said the jury notified him that they were deadlocked. He asked the jury foreman is that was the case, and the foreman agreed.

Hardwick then declared a mistrial.

At the news, Lovelace hung his head, after earlier waving to his wife Christine and his three sons as he entered the courtroom. A sense of profound disappointment hung over the courtroom, from Lovelace and his defense team, to Special Prosecutor Ed Parkinson, who told Hardwick of the mistrial, “Apparently, I must agree.” Lovelace’s family and friends were also disappointed in the verdict. The family of Lovelace’s first wife, Cory Didrickson Lovelace, were not in the courtroom when the mistrial was announced.

Afterwards, Parkinson was asked for his reaction to the mistrial. “Well, I’m obviously disappointed, but on the other hand, the jury deliberated actually 16 hours, two days and they’re the ones that made the decision, not me.” Parkinson said though that he wouldn’t blame the jury, who looked very tired as they entered the courtroom around 5:20 P.M. Friday. “I can see that they were very emotional, they were into it and they asked to look at the video tapes of certain statements, so we’ll just try it with another jury.” The tapes the jury viewed Friday morning were of Curtis Lovelace’s interrogation on August 27, 2014 and his daughter Lyndsay’s statement to Quincy Police Detective Adam Gibson in late March, 2014.

Parkinson said that the possibility of a mistrial was apparent as the trial went on. “By watching the trial, I think people could predict it, because we were clearly opposite theories. I mean, as the defense pointed out, the children said one thing, and we claimed science as another.” There’s no word on how the jury was deadlocked in their vote.

Hardwick set a new trial date of May 31 in Adams County Circuit court. Lovelace will be held in the Hancock County Jail until then, on $5 million bond.

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