After more than two days of jury deliberations, a Superior Court Judge declared a mistrial in the case of George Alan Kelly, a Kino Springs man charged with the second-degree murder of Mexican citizen Gabriel Cuen Buitimea.
The decision marks an end to a month-long trial, but the case is not completely dismissed: Moving forward, Kelly could face a retrial. On Monday, however, jurors were officially dismissed, and Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink set a status hearing for the case on April 29.
The decision came shortly before 5 p.m. on Monday. After listening to weeks of testimony, the eight-person jury had spent more than two full days deliberating a verdict to no avail. On Monday afternoon, jurors submitted a note to Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink:
"We do not believe resuming deliberations will change juror opinions," Fink quoted, reading the jurors' note aloud.
"Your Honor ... the state requests that the court declare a mistrial," replied Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley, who led the prosecution.
"And for the record, Judge, we object," said Brenna Larkin, Kelly's lead defense attorney. "And we would ask that (the jury) be brought back tomorrow to continue deliberations."
Noting that jurors had already deliberated for hours – more than two full days – Fink declared a mistrial.
"It is what it is," Kelly remarked to reporters as he walked out of the courthouse Monday evening.
Kelly was arrested on Jan. 30, 2023 after leading authorities to Cuen Buitimea, a Mexican citizen, on Kelly’s ranch. Prosecutors filed second-degree murder charges against Kelly, alleging that he fired his AK-47 at unarmed, undocumented migrants – including Cuen Buitimea.
And through his attorneys, Kelly has maintained his innocence, asserting that he’d fired defensive warning shots into the air after being threatened by armed men on his property. Throughout the trial, Kelly’s attorneys also argued that Kelly’s bullets did not strike Cuen Buitimea, asserting that the Sheriff's Office failed to consider other suspects in their investigation.
Days of deliberation
Jurors heard testimony from about 30 witnesses, including law enforcement agents, forensic experts, a neighbor who owned property near the Kelly residence, a Honduran migrant living in Mexico, and Kelly’s wife.
Closing arguments ended last Thursday, concluding a trial that lasted approximately four weeks. Jury deliberation began that afternoon and lasted through Friday with no verdict reached. On Friday afternoon, jurors submitted a note to Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink confirming a deadlock in deliberations.
“The note reads as follows: ‘We as a jury are at an impasse as to a unanimous verdict,’” Fink read aloud in the courtroom Friday. “‘We’re looking for guidance as how best to proceed.’”
Speaking in court Friday afternoon, Fink encouraged jurors to continue deliberating.
“I am not trying to force or coerce a verdict. That is not my intention, that's not my job and that is not what I’m doing,” Fink said. “But I do have a responsibility after a tremendous amount of work has been put in to getting this trial to this place … to make sure that you do your job, follow your oaths and to work as hard and long as you possibly can to reach a verdict.”
On Monday, however, jurors described a similar dilemma: an impasse.
Addressing jurors on Monday, Fink read a list of impasse instructions – a set of guidelines presented to jurors who are at odds in their deliberations. The guidelines, he read, are not intended to force a verdict, but rather to assist jurors as they attempt to reach one.
After receiving those instructions, the jury returned its final note to Fink, stating that further deliberation would not lead to a verdict and leading to a mistrial.
The Kelly case, which has garnered national attention, marks the first murder trial to unfold in Santa Cruz County in more than two decades, according to court records.
