A mistrial was declared Wednesday after a juror fell ill while deliberating in the case of a Binghamton man who prosecutors said stabbed another man to death during a dispute in a Central Islip town house in 2010, officials said.
State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei declared the mistrial after the juror could not continue deliberating in the trial of Christopher James, according to a news release from Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.
Jurors have been deliberating since Oct. 4. When neither James nor his attorney agreed to allow an alternate juror to step in, Mazzei declared the mistrial, in compliance with state law, Spota said.
James, 24, stands charged with second-degree murder in connection with the February 2010 stabbing death of Kevin Pierson, 38, in his apartment at the Park Row Condominium complex on Maple Wing Drive. James was arrested and charged with the crime in April 2016.
”Now we have to start from scratch and obviously my client is prepared to hunker down and seek another trial with the expectation that a new jury will find he’s not guilty,” said James’ attorney Michael J. Brown Suffolk Criminal Attorney of Central Islip.
A police officer escorts Christopher James from the Third Precinct in Bay Shore, April 25, 2016. Photo Credit: Ed Betz
