Defense seeks mistrial in Peachtree Mall case after juror replaced

With tornado sirens wailing and defense attorneys moving for a mistrial, a new jury Monday started late on its deliberations in the allegedly gang-related murder case against three suspects in last year’s fatal shooting at Columbus’ Peachtree Mall.

Defense attorneys argued Judge Frank Jordan Jr. should not have dismissed the jury foreperson last week after other jurors complained she was impeding deliberations by refusing to participate in the discussion. Some said the woman had insulted another juror by calling her “Dr. Phil” and tried to intimidate others by threatening “to snap.”

Because Jordan replaced the foreperson with an alternate right before adjourning court Friday, he on Monday again had to instruct jurors on the law by which they must decide the case. Then the first of two tornado warnings forced jurors to stop deliberating while they moved to a windowless room for safety.

Attorneys were arguing for a mistrial when a second warning made the jurors move again. By the time they could go back, it was 10:42 a.m.

They are weighing the evidence against Xzavaien Trevon Jones, 19; his sister Tekoa Chantrell Young, 24; and Terell Raquez McFarland, 26; charged in the March 26, 2016, slaying of 24-year-old Anthony Meredith, who was gunned down outside the entrance to the mall’s food court about 7:30 p.m. He died about 30 minutes later at the hospital.

Jones is alleged to have shot Meredith 10 times as Young and McFarland watched. They blamed Meredith for the Nov. 21, 2015, fatal shooting of Young’s boyfriend Christopher Twitty, the father of her child, investigators said.

Meredith and Twitty had a dispute over Meredith’s fronting Twitty about $3,000 worth of marijuana, for which Twitty never paid, authorities said. Police allege Young, Jones and McFarland are all in the Crips street gang, as was Twitty.

In court Monday, defense attorneys argued Jordan lacked sufficient cause to remove the foreperson after complaints from only four jurors, as the other jurors said they were continuing to deliberate despite the impasse.

Tim Flournoy, who represents Jones, and Nancy Miller, who represents McFarland, both said Jordan should have questioned each of the 12 jurors individually, and not just the foreperson and the four who complained. Jordon on Friday first questioned the jury as a whole, then individually questioned the foreperson and the four who voiced objections to the foreperson’s conduct.

Emotional confrontations do not warrant replacing a juror, as jurors’ having heated disputes over the evidence is not unusual, Miller said: “It’s an intense process. It’s not an easy process.”

William Kendrick, who with Mark Shelnutt represents Young, noted the four jurors who complained called the foreperson “obstinate” for deciding the evidence was insufficient and refusing to consider whether the defendants were guilty.

The foreperson specifically noted what evidence she felt was lacking, Kendrick said, and that showed she was involved in the process: “All these things are evidence of her deliberating.”

Prosecutor Pete Temesgen argued the foreperson was not simply engaging in heated debate but refusing to participate, as the four complaining jurors said she withdrew from their discussions, so they were proceeding as an 11-person jury. That was a sound basis for removing her, he said.

Jordan denied the mistrial motions.

The trial is in its third week, with two days of deliberations last week now set aside while the newly constituted jury starts over. By the time Jordan adjourned court for the day at 5:15 p.m. Monday, the new jury had deliberated about five hours.

Each defendant is charged with malice or intentional murder, felony murder for allegedly killing Meredith while committing the felony of aggravated assault, aggravated assault and gang violence. As the accused triggerman, Jones is charged also with using a firearm to commit a felony.

This story was originally published May 1, 2017 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Defense seeks mistrial in Peachtree Mall case after juror replaced."