By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the murder trial of Del Rioan Freddy Villanueva.
The mistrial was ordered after a six-man, six-woman jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Villanueva was guilty of murder in the March 23, 2019 death of Del Rioan Manuel Sanchez.
The jury found Villanueva guilty of felony tampering with evidence for his role in assisting three other men in hiding the car in which Sanchez’s body was found.
Sanchez’s body was found in his own vehicle at the back of a tire shop on Las Vacas Street in south Del Rio on the morning of March 24, 2019. After Sanchez’s body was removed from the car by police and other first responders, it was found that he had been beaten sometimes before his death.
Four men – Villanueva, Kelvin Brown, Mario Rivera-Vasquez and Lennox Matthews – were later charged with a variety of criminal offenses stemming from the incident.
After hearing testimony from prosecution witnesses Tuesday and Wednesday, both the state, represented by District Attorney Suzanne West, and the defense, represented by San Antonio attorney Sylvia Cavazos and Del Rio attorney Omar Fuentes, rested and closed their cases Wednesday afternoon.
After Senior District Judge Sid L. Harle, who presided over the trial, read the charge of the court and the jurors heard closing arguments from both West and Cavazos, the jury began its deliberations at 3:42 p.m. Wednesday.
At several times during their deliberations, the jury sent notes to the judge asking questions about points of law. One of the jury’s first questions was whether unanimous decisions had to be reached for verdicts of guilty and not guilty.
Harle conferred with the attorneys before sending written responses into the jury room with one of the court bailiffs.
In response to the question above, Harle wrote, “Each juror must agree to the verdict. Please continue your deliberations.”
At 8:29 p.m. Wednesday, after four hours and 47 minutes of deliberating, the presiding juror, an individual selected by the jury before starting deliberations, knocked on the door of the jury room on the second floor of the Val Verde County Judicial Center and indicated the jury had reached a verdict on the tampering charge, but could not agree on a verdict regarding the murder charge.
The jury returned to the courtroom, and the guilty verdict on the felony tampering charge was read aloud. Cavazos asked that the jury be polled, and each juror indicated that he or she had voted for the guilty verdict.
Harle then directed the jury to continue its deliberations on the murder charge.
At 11:29 p.m. Wednesday, after deliberations lasted nearly eight hours, the presiding juror again summoned the bailiff, and when the jury returned to the courtroom, indicated the jury was deadlocked, nine to three.
“And do you feel that further deliberations would be fruitful?” Harle asked.
“No, sir,” the presiding juror replied.
Harle then declared a mistrial on the murder charge.
Both West and Cavazos subsequently agreed to allow Harle to sentence Villanueva on the tampering conviction, and that sentencing was set for Thursday morning.
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