The judge presiding over the sexual assault trial of a former East Point police officer instructed the deadlocked jury to keep working Friday morning as deliberations entered a third day.
At least three jurors have said they don’t expect to reach a consensus in the trial of Richard Gooddine, who faces 17 charges, including child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, sexual assault by a law enforcement officer and violating his oath of office.
He’s accused of molesting two girls younger than 16 and inappropriately touching three other women during arrests over his seven years with the department.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shakura Ingram delivered instructions to the jury to encourage them to break their deadlock. Her Allen charge, also called a “dynamite charge,” tells jurors to reexamine their positions and continue deliberations in an effort to reach a verdict.
Jurors have deliberated about eight hours since Wednesday afternoon.
In an email sent to the judge Thursday evening, one juror wrote, “I’m fearful that the ultimate outcome may not be aligned with everyone’s expectations.”
Another accused a fellow juror of refusing to budge in the deliberation room.
“During the defense’s presentation of the case, (she was) sitting in the front row shaking her head in agreement,” the email read. “This juror made up her mind then and was very obvious in court and has not listened to the other 11 jurors in our deliberations.”
Gooddine’s attorney Rudjard Hayes requested a mistrial, saying the jurors seemed pretty adamant they would not be able to reach a verdict.
Prosecutor Yolanda Mack noted the trial took nine days, and asked the judge to give the 12 jurors more time to reach a decision.
Deliberations resumed about 9:30 a.m.
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