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(April 13) After four days of deliberations and approximately 19 hours of deliberations, jurors in the murder case of daycare provider Suzanne Johnson announced that they were hopelessly deadlocked in trying to reach a verdict and the judge declared a mistrial.

Regarding the murder charge against Johnson, jurors were divided 7-to-5 (seven thought she was not guilty of the death of six-month-old Jasmine Miller; five thought she was guilty). Jurors were evenly split 6-to-6 regarding the "assault on a child resulting in death" charge. The final declaration of a mistrial occurred after jurors had first claimed that they were deadlocked on Thursday, April 9. But Judge William Mudd sent the jurors home for a long weekend at that time, encouraging them to return on Monday and reach a verdict. Deliberations were tough on this jury. At one point, one juror even refused to further deliberate because he had made his decision about the case while the other jurors were still undecided. Crystal Miller, the mother of baby Jasmine, wept bitterly as Judge Mudd announced his decision. "Why didn't you tell the truth," Mrs. Miller yelled at Johnson at the end of proceedings. "You know you what you did...You've put me and my family through hell. How could you just stand up there and lie? Why don't you just tell the truth?" Mrs. Miller was led out of the courtroom by her husband Travis and the rest of her family. Johnson also sobbed at the end of the proceedings. She will continue to spend time in jail as she awaits her retrial. Although the date for a Johnson's retrial date has not been set, there are early indications that it would not occur before this July. On Friday, April 17, there will be a hearing to determine a new trial date and hear the defense's motion for a reduction in Johnson's $250,000 bail, which Johnson's family has been unable to raise since her arrest. top of page Watch Judge William Mudd declare a mistrial. Download Realplayer

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