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Still no verdict in Paterson police officer Jose Urena’s fatal hit-and-run case | Paterson Times

Still no verdict in Paterson police officer Jose Urena’s fatal hit-and-run case

Jaquill-Fields

After spending the entire day in deliberations, the jury delivered a note to the judge late Friday afternoon that read, “No unanimous verdict yet.”

Jurors began deliberating in the Jose Urena case at about 9:40 a.m. After an hour lunch break, they continued to deliberate until 3:56 p.m.

There was no “peep” from the jury until a note to the judge at 2:12 p.m. The jury wanted to know what was the odometer reading on Urena’s vehicle prior to it being impounded.

Both the prosecutor and the defense agreed the reading was 25,209 miles.

Urena is on trial for the hit-and-run death of Jaquill “Jake” Fields (pictured). He was indicted in 2016 on charges of knowingly leaving the scene of a fatal vehicle accident and endangering an injured victim.

The jury heard arguments from both the prosecutors and the defense over the past days.

Both Urena and Fields’ families sat in the courtroom waiting for the verdict. On Thursday, a juror had to be excused because she had plans to travel to Florida that night, forcing the judge to dismiss her and appoint an alternate.

The re-constituted jury began fresh deliberations late Thursday and resumed on Friday morning.

“This is extraordinary,” said judge Adam E. Jacobs before the jurors were called to the box to go home for the day. “I’ve never seen a jury behave this way.” He was referring to deliberating for hours without a “peep.”

The judge told the jury to return at 9:30 a.m. on Monday to resume deliberations.

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