(LATE TAMPA Edition]
St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg, Fla.
Author CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
Date: Nov 7, 2003
Jurors deadlocked Thursday after debating for 4 1/2
hours on whether the freakish lethal punch that felled
18-year-old Christopher Fannan amounted to murder
or manslaughter.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Rex Barbas declared a
mistrial in the case against Alan Thompson, 23, who
still faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on
retrial.
Fannan, a Sickles High School senior, died after a
single punch to the temple at a Citrus Park Steak n
Shake on May 19, 2002.
"Alan has another day," said defense attorney Brian
Gonzalez. "Certainly it seems we had a jury that had
some concerns about the charges, and whether
burdens were met."
Juror Michael Pozefsky said the panel was split 5-1 for conviction throughout deliberations. He identified the holdout for acquittal as one of the two women on the jury: a 47-year-old registered nurse.
"She didn't feel that the defendant intended to inflict great bodily injury," said Pozefsky, a 30-year-old student "I completely disagree with her.... I just really thought it was an open-shut type of case."
With the exception of the holdout, Pozefeky added, "It didn't take long for us to realize that we all agreed."
The holdout juror did not return telephone messages.
In his closing argument Thursday, prosecutor Curt Allen told jurors that Thompson struck Fannan in hopes of avenging a perceived verbal slight directed at Thompson's brother and a friend.
The prosecutor conceded Thompson did not intend to kill Fannan. But he said Thompson should have known that punching him would cause great bodily harm. In 1998, with a single punch, Thompson had broken a man's nose and chipped three of his teeth.
At 6 feet 5 and 200 pounds, Thompson, a former basketball star at Sickles High, towered over Fannan by 8 inches and had a 50-pound weight advantage. Yet even with his "extreme athletic and size advantage," the prosecutor said, Thompson did not give Fannan a chance for a fair fight.
"This wasn't a fight. This wasn't combat," the prosecutor said, comparing Thompson's "cowardly act" to the attack on Pearl Harbor. "This was a sneak attack."
During the trial, the prosecutor showed the jury pictures of Fannan's bloodied brain. On Thursday, he held a copy of the teen's death certificate before them. It was what his parents got, he said, instead of his high school diploma.
Stressing the "freak" nature of Fannan dying from a punch that did not even fracture his skull, defense attorney Brian Gonzalez said Thompson could not have known one punch would cause such damage.
The defense attorney pointed to the testimony of a medical examiner who said such a blow 'just as likely" could have caused a broken nose or a black eye.
"It's not Peed Harbor, because who knows how long the Japanese prepared for Pearl Harbor?' Gonzalez added.
Gonzalez said he hoped the case could be resolved so 'both these families can move on."
Jurors began deliberating at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, and at 4:40 p.m., the foreman sent a note to the judge saying they couldn't reach a verdict The judge sent them back to deliberate further, but just before 6 p.m., another note came: They were "hopelessly deadlocked.'
The judge asked whether it would help to regroup again tomorrow. The foreman said he didn't think so. The judge declared a mistrial.
As Fannan's mother put her head in her hands and wept, prosecutor Allen said he was ready to try the case again as soon as possible. A new trial date has not been set.
"I don't think the freak occurrence could have happened unless (Thompson) caught the victim unknowingly," said
Pozefsky, the juror. "I think the (Fannan) family deserves a retrial.'
'It's not aver yet,' Fannan's mother, Cyndi Fannan, told reporters tearfully. "We'll get him."
- Christopher Goffard can be reached at 226-3337 or goffard@sptimes.com
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner, Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Abstract (Document Summary)
The prosecutor conceded [Alan Thompson] did not intend to kill Fannan. But he
said Thompson should have known that punching him would cause great bodily
harm. In 1998, with a single punch, Thompson had broken a man's nose and
chipped three of his teeth.
At 6 feet 5 and 200 pounds, Thompson, a former basketball star at Sickles
High, towered over Fannan by 8 Inches and had a 50-pound weight advantage.
Yet even with his 'extreme athletic and size advantage,' the prosecutor said,
Thompson did not give Fannan a chance for a fair fight.
Prosecutor [Curt Allen] consoles the family of [Christopher Fannan], who died
of a single punch to the head in May 2002. (ran TAMPA & STATE); Alan
Fannan; Photo: PHOTO, THOMAS M. GOETHE, (2); PHOTO, (2)
