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A jury has deadlocked in the murder trial of a Fairfield, Connecticut high school lacrosse player who was killed during a booze-fueled brawl between students during a house party in May 2022, signifying good news for the defense, one expert said.
Raul Valle, now 20, is waiting to learn his fate after he allegedly stabbed James “Jimmy” McGrath, a 17-year-old Fairfield College Preparatory School athlete, to death at a house party.
Valle was charged with one count of murder and two counts of first-degree assault. He was 16 at the time of McGrath’s stabbing death.
CONNECTICUT TEEN TO STAND TRIAL FOR PREP SCHOOL ATHLETE’S MURDER THAT HAS ‘SHAKEN’ PARENTS, SCHOOLS: ATTORNEY
“It’s a great sign for the defendant,” former Assistant U.S. Attorney Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital. “Self-defense cases are notoriously challenging for prosecutors, especially a case like this.”
NBC Connecticut reported that the jury is deadlocked at 11-1. It is unclear if the holdout juror is in favor of acquittal or conviction.
“That’s great for the defense,” Rahmani said. “Those types of jurors – strong-willed, refusing to relent jurors – are always great for the defense, because at the end of the day, a hung jury is a mistrial. And the defense lives to fight another day.”
After an eight-day trial, the jury deliberated for just a few hours on Monday morning before telling Judge Shari Murphy that they were hopelessly deadlocked on the murder charge, according to that report.
The judge then instructed the jury to deliberate on the lesser charges, saying they could revisit the murder charge later. After an afternoon of further deliberations, the jury was dismissed for the day. The members returned on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday morning, the jury said they could not agree on the assault charges, either.
However, both the state and the defense urged the jury to keep deliberating, and Murphy instructed them to continue.
During the trial, the events of May 14, 2022 were argued at great length. Valle, who is claiming self-defense, took the stand in his own defense.
DEADLY STABBING OF PREP SCHOOL STUDENT BLAMED ON PARENTS WHO HOSTED BOOZE-FUELED HOUSE PARTY: LAWSUITS
Valle attended St. Joseph High School in Trumbull near Fairfield Prep, where McGrath was a junior.
During the party in Shelton, Connecticut, Valle said he witnessed his best friend Tyler DaSilva, who was also a St. Joseph High School student, being attacked by teens from another school, and jumped into the melee to protect his friend.
He reportedly insisted during his testimony that he did not know he was going to the Shelton house party until he arrived, and that on the ride over, his friend and driver Jack Snyder gave him the knife used in the stabbing.
Snyder testified that he gave Valle the knife when Valle asked for it, FOX 61 reported.
In 2023, Valle declined a plea deal that would have resulted in a 40-year prison sentence.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
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