UPDATE: Jurors Deadlock on Second Attempted Murder Charge in Youshock Case

UPDATE: 6:41 p.m.

One day after a San Mateo County jury found Alexander Youshock guilty of attempted murder and four other charges related to his attack on Hillsdale High School in August 2009, jurors announced today that they have deadlocked on a second count of attempted murder.

Judge Stephen Hall declared a mistrial on the second attempted murder charge this afternoon.

"The jury has been extremely diligent and worked very hard," Hall said. "It would appear at this point that they are, in fact, deadlocked.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti said her office will decide at a future date whether to retry Youshock on the second attempted murder charge.

After hearing additional arguments from the prosecutor and defense attorney this morning, the jury did find Youshock guilty of a seventh charge of exploding a destructive device with the intent to kill.

The trial proceedings will now enter a second phase to determine Youshock's sanity at the time he went to Hillsdale High with 10 homemade pipe bombs, a sword, a chainsaw and a plan to murder three of his former teachers.

During the sanity phase, which is scheduled to begin Monday morning, the burden of proof will rest with the defense because Youshock is presumed sane, Guidotti said.

Youshock has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to all of the charges against him. He could face life in prison if convicted in the sanity phase.

-- Bay City News

Having, the jury in the trial of Alexander Youshock this morning heard additional arguments from attorneys as they try to break a deadlock on the remaining two counts: whether he attempted to murder campus security guard Jana Torres when he threw a homemade pipe bomb as she advanced on him in the hallway at Hillsdale High, and whether he detonated that pipe bomb with the intent to kill.

On Monday, Judge Stephen Hall of San Mateo Superior Court agreed to allow another round of arguments from Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti and defense attorney Jonathan McDougall. It was an unusual move, since closing arguments have already been made, but one the judge said was justified given the nature of the charges. Each side was given 15 minutes this morning to state their case.

Guidotti kicked things off, saying that although Youshock didn’t go to Hillsdale High School on the morning of Aug. 24, 2009 with the specific intention of killing Jana Torres, he did specifically try to kill her after the chaos erupted because she posed a threat to his plans.

“She was not someone that he had a grudge against, but she was a person who became a problem for the defendant,” Guidotti said.

“Torres’ job was to make sure the campus was safe.” By contrast, she said, Youshock was trying to “breach the security of that school. That’s where their agendas started to conflict.”

And as Youshock tried to start his chainsaw that morning in a hallway of the Hillsdale campus, those conflicting “agendas” led him to try to take her life, she said.

According to Guidotti, the “undeniable fact” showing Youshock’s intent to kill Torres was that he lit the fuse a half-inch from the end – and admitted on the stand that he did so because he didn’t want people to have time to get away from it.

“If you’re throwing to cause destruction, you’re not worried about short fusing,” she said. “The only reason you short fuse it” is to kill someone.

In turn, defense attorney Jonathan McDougall said Youshock has been clear in his testimony, and in interviews with police, that when he threw the bomb he did not have Torres in his sights.

“There’s no mention of Jana Torres. … He didn’t see her. He doesn’t know her. He wasn’t trying to do anything to Jana Torres,” McDougall said.

One explanation for Youshock’s actions, he said, is that he saw Torres and tried to kill her. Another is that he simply tossed the bomb in order to get away. Whenever there is more than one reasonable interpretation, McDougall said, jurors must choose the reasonable interpretation that points to a defendant’s innocence.

After hearing the arguments, jurors were dismissed to continue deliberations.

Youshock on Monday was found guilty of attempting to murder his former chemistry teacher, Meghan Spalding; exploding a destructive device in an act of terrorism; possession of a destructive device in a public place; carrying a concealed dagger; and carrying a concealed explosive.

After the last two verdicts are rendered, a second trial will begin before the same judge and jury to determine Youshock’s sanity.

He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to all of the charges against him and could  face life in prison if convicted.