AKRON, Ohio — After over two full days of deliberations, the jury in the trial of Deshawn and Tyler Stafford is still unable to reach a verdict on the charges against the brothers on trial for involuntary manslaughter for the death of 17-year-old Ethan Liming in the summer of 2022.
The presiding judge, Tammy O’Brien, called the jury into the courtroom Monday morning to instruct them to try once again to reach a consensus on the verdict.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the court has been advised that you have had some difficulty reaching a verdict on some counts of the indictment,” O’Brien said Monday morning. “This is a new and difficult assignment for you. The process of discussion and deliberation in the jury room is necessarily slow and requires consideration and patience.”
O’Brien said that while the verdict must reflect the verdict of each individual juror, it should not be “mere acquiescence in the conclusion of other jurors. Each question submitted to you should be examined with proper regard and deference to the opinions of others.”
The judge suggested that jurors should “listen to one another’s opinions with a disposition to be persuaded. Do not hesitate to examine your views and change your opinion.”
"There is no reason to believe the case will ever by submitted to a jury more capable, impartial or intelligent than this one," O'Brien said.
The jury was then sent back to deliberate.
Watch the judge's full instructions to the jury below:
Jurors have been deliberating since Thursday, after closing arguments from the defense and prosecution. If they are unable to reach a unanimous verdict, it is likely that a hung jury and mistrial will be declared, and the Stafford brothers may be re-tried with a new jury at a later date.
University of Akron law professor Michael Gentithes said the judge admonishing the jury to work towards a verdict, also known as an "Allen Charge," is an effort to avoid a hung jury.
"Judges are a lot more hesitant to declare a hung jury quickly because of all of the resources that they've already invested so they'll really admonish the jury strongly to try to reach a verdict," he said. "They can attempt to retry the case if the only reason for potential retrial is a hung jury where jurors simply weren't able to reach agreement."
The crucial focal point for the 12 jurors may be whether they believed the defendants acted in self-defense under Ohio's Stand Your Ground law, as the defense's closing statements hinged on this argument. Under the law, the prosecution had to prove they weren’t trying to defend themselves when they fought with Liming and his friends near the basketball courts of the I Promise School.
Prosecutors admitted during closing arguments on Wednesday that Liming and his friends made bad decisions when they got out of a car and used toy SpaltRball guns to shoot gel pellets at basketball players on June 2, 2022.
"Most pranks are not bright ideas. It was a joke," said Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Matt Kuhn.
The Stafford brothers, who were on the basketball court, initially ran, but prosecutors said a short time later, Deshawn approached Liming outside of his car. Liming fired more pellets, which hit Deshawn, leading to a fight, according to court testimony.
Kuhn said Deshawn threw the first punch, but it became a three-on-one fight with Tyler and their cousin, Donovan Jones, joining the fight. Jones was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of assault in connection to the incident.
Liming fell backward and hit his head on the pavement, which caused his death, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner.
Kuhn believes the Staffords realized it was a prank but retaliated with unreasonable force.
"Their behavior caused the death of Ethan Liming. They were committing assault on Ethan. They were violently attacking him," Kuhn told the jury.
But defense attorneys argued the brothers were not looking for trouble that night, rather, trouble found them.
Attorney Jon Sinn, who represents Deshawn, held up one of the toy guns and demonstrated the noise it makes while making his closing argument on Wednesday.
"It didn't have to be deadly. It could have been (demonstrated toy gun) right out the window and go forward," Sinn said.
The defense argued the brothers acted in self-defense, and the burden to prove they didn't fall on the prosecution.
"They've got to prove Deshawn didn't act in self-defense in the shadows. That's on them," Sinn said.
University of Akron Law Professor Michael Gentithes said earlier this week the case could test Ohio's Stand Your Ground law passed in 2021.
He said self-defense could be argued if a defendant didn't provoke the incident, along with another important factor.
"Second, that the defendant had some bonafide belief of the imminent danger of something pretty serious — of death or great bodily harm," Gintithes said.
The law professor pointed out that Ohio's Stand Your Ground law is broader than similar laws in other states as it relates to a "duty to retreat."
"As long as the defendant is in a place they're lawfully allowed to be, the duty to retreat no longer applies," Gintithes said.
Gintithes didn’t know all of the facts surrounding the death of Liming, but he said during deliberations Thursday it was possible the jurors in the high-profile case were wrestling with the self-defense versus unreasonable force debate.
He had said the verdict would be one to watch and could be discussed among his law students.
