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Kendall Coffey: Retrial for officer in beating case
(CNN) -- Prosecutors in California must decide whether to retry a white former police officer videotaped beating a handcuffed black teenager during an arrest after a judge on Tuesday declared a hung jury in the case. Legal analyst Kendall Coffey spoke Wednesday from Miami with CNN anchor Carol Costello about the deadlock and the likelihood of a retrial. COSTELLO: Should prosecutors retry this case? COFFEY: I think so. Normally, after a hung jury in a first trial, prosecutors will proceed with at least one more retrial, especially where there are indications that a majority of jurors favored a guilty verdict. Remember, the defense now has the benefit of having seen the prosecution's entire case, every card the prosecution is holding. So, oftentimes the prosecution doesn't get better or easier the second time around. COSTELLO: What will the defense pick out to use if the next round happens? COFFEY: I think the key thing the defense will be able to take advantage of is the testimony of Donovan Jackson himself. Understandably, because of everything he went through and the fact that he's young and other issues, he was confused at times, he was perhaps inconsistent, couldn't recall some things. But what they will do when he testifies again is pick up on his first testimony to point up even more inconsistencies and try to say that it simply isn't even strong enough victim testimony to overcome a reasonable doubt in favor of officer Jeremy Morse. COSTELLO: The make-up of the jury has people talking this morning. COFFEY: Of course it's going to be talked about, but the reality is that what is always tough in any case is getting a conviction against police officers, who most jurors, understandably, have a positive opinion toward for what amount to, according to defense views, split-second decisions being made in the line of duty. This wasn't tried by the prosecution as involving race, and the reality is that when police officers are involved in excessive force cases it is never easy to get a prosecution verdict. COSTELLO: Most of the jury was white, there was only one African-American in the jury, and many African-Americans have a far different opinion about police officers than many whites do. COFFEY: Well, it's definitely something that's going to continue to be talked about. One of the things that could happen down the road, don't forget that when Rodney King's alleged beaters were acquitted under state charges, they were prosecuted again under federal criminal civil rights charges, and in that scenario two of them were convicted. The jury pool in a federal civil rights charge might be of very different make-up of the jury. There's no decision that's been made but it's clear that federal eyes have been watching this case from the beginning.
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