The jury deliberating charges against a man accused of killing a police officer and an elderly woman in Weymouth, Massachusetts, five years ago had to restart work Wednesday after a surrogate was brought in.
A week has passed since closing arguments wrapped up in the murder trial of Emanuel Lopes, who is charged with the 2018 murders of Weymouth police sergeant Michael Chesna and 77-year-old Vera Adams.
Another juror had been ruled out over a conflict with Friday’s vacation plans. When the jury returned to court Wednesday after the holiday to ask if they were deadlocked without a unanimous decision, the judge noted that they considered them a new jury and therefore had technically been deliberating for hours, even though they already they had been deliberating for several days.
The surrogate had been present during the three weeks of court proceedings, which took place at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, although the jury was selected from a pool of Worcester County residents, requiring them to be transported by bus. every day.
The jury again asked to go home without a verdict on Wednesday afternoon. Waiting for a verdict apparently took its toll on the family.
The jury is tasked with deciding whether Lopes should be held responsible for the murders; His lawyer argued that his history of mental illness led him to act irrationally.
If convicted, Lopes faces life in prison, but if found not guilty by reason of insanity, he could be sent to a mental health facility.
Lopes is accused of attacking Chesna, 42, with a rock while he was arrested for erratic driving and vandalizing a home. Prosecutors said that during a struggle with the police sergeant, Lopes took Chesna’s gun and shot him eight times in the chest and head. Lopes was later charged with shooting Adams, who was standing nearby in the sunroom of his home.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
