If Samantha Woll murder trial ends in hung jury, here's what that means

In the criminal justice system, if all 12 jurors can't unanimously agree on whether someone is innocent or guilty, that means the jury is deadlocked.

That's the phrase the jury in the Samantha Woll murder trial used to describe how deliberations were going last week as they decide the fate of 29-year-old Michael Jackson-Bolanos, who is charged with fatally stabbing the beloved synagogue leader and political activist during an alleged 2023 home invasion.

The defense says police have the wrong person, maintaining Jackson-Bolanos stumbled across her body on a walkway while out breaking into cars late at night, and touched her to see if she was dead, but that he is not the killer. The defense also argues police ignored other potential suspects, including an ex-boyfriend who confessed to the killing and later recanted.

The prosecution argues Jackson-Bolanos is the killer, maintaining he lied to police repeatedly about his actions that night, and noted Woll's blood was found on his coat sleeve, and that security cameras placed him near the scene that night.

On Friday, after two full days of deliberating, the jury said it was deadlocked, though the judge told them to return Monday and keep deliberating. In other words, Wayne County Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten is urging the jury to try to reach a unanimous verdict in order to avoid a hung jury.

What is a deadlocked jury?

• If a jury says it is deadlocked, it means at least one person disagrees with the rest of the group. To be deadlocked, it doesn't matter if it's only one person who is in disagreement, also known as a holdout, or if the group is split 50-50. It just means there is no unanimous decision on someone's innocence or guilt.
• A deadlocked jury is also known as a "hung jury." Again, it means there's been a breakdown in deliberations and the group can't unanimously agree if someone is innocent or guilty.
• In the justice system, judges have the discretionary power to ask a jury to keep trying to reach a verdict. Judges typically ask the defense and prosecution for input on the matter before allowing a jury to call it quits.
• If deliberations result in a deadlocked, or hung jury, a judge then declares a mistrial. If that happens, the prosecution can either decide to try the defendant a second time, or it can decide to drop the case and let the defendant go.
• In the Woll case, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office has not yet said what it plans to do should a mistrial occur.

The jury is on a lunch break until 1 p.m.

A key sticking point in this case is that the prosecution has no physical evidence that places Jackson-Bolanos inside Woll's condo, where police say she was stabbed to death in the early morning hours of Oct. 21, 2023.

The prosecution argues, however, that all the evidence points to Jackson-Bolanos: he had blood on his sleeve; he was the only person spotted in the area during the time frame police believe she was killed; he was casing cars in Woll's neighborhood, where he allegedly saw her door was open and went inside; and he lied repeatedly to police about what happened that night.

Jackson-Bolanos admitted to the jury that he lied to police about seeing and touching Woll's body, but said he did so because he feared being blamed for her death. He noted during his testimony that he was a habitual offender and knew he was facing 25 years in prison if he were caught doing anything illegal again. In this case, he was breaking into cars.

The prosecution countered that Jackson-Bolanos lied to the police for the same reason he killed Woll: He knew he was facing a lot of time in prison if he got caught.

Jackson-Bolanos is charged with felony murder, first-degree murder, home invasion and lying to police. If he is convicted he faces life in prison.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com