DA will retry love triangle murder case

The District Attorney’s Office will retry a Hayward man accused of killing his girlfriend’s husband in her Redwood City apartment after concluding jurors’ confusion about applying the law in part led to their deadlock and the subsequent mistrial.

Prosecutor Al Giannini will announce the decision in court this afternoon at a status conference in the case of Samuel Blackmon, 46, who is charged with murder and the use of a firearm in the July 6, 2006 death of Jeffrey Scott Henderson.

While the decision doesn’t preclude settling the case before a scheduled May 4 retrial, no offers are currently on the table and the prosecution said it is working under the assumption a full trial will be required.

The decision reached Tuesday to retry Blackmon left defense attorney Lisa Maguire "quite surprised” because of the narrow margin between the majority of jurors leaning for guilt and those opting for an acquittal.

"It doesn’t make a lot of sense. They told me the standard is if they can convince 12 people differently and five intelligent, rational people said their case was not enough,” Maguire said.

The District Attorney’s Office based its decision on the likelihood of a different outcome, based in part on conversations with some jurors, according to Giannini.

"[I]t appears that there was considerable confusion in the jury room as how to apply the law and how to interpret the facts,” Giannini said, adding it is the prosecution’s responsibility to explain the law and present the evidence clearly.

The jury declared itself hopelessly deadlocked March 25 after seven days of deliberations in the case which largely hinged on a series of cell phone calls pinpointing Blackmon in San Mateo County the night of the murder, a debated mixture of DNA found on a rope around Henderson’s wrist and the testimony of Beatriz Butler with whom both men were involved.

On July 6, 2006, Butler discovered Henderson face down in her Second Avenue apartment, shot in the back of the head and with a rope around one hand, after she returned from work as a nurse’s assistant at Sequoia Hospital. The door was unlocked and the apartment slightly ransacked.

Giannini argued Henderson, who married Butler three weeks prior, was killed by Blackmon because she would never have ended the relationship. The pair had been involved for nearly two decades but during a break Butler became involved with Blackmon. She married Henderson after he threatened suicide.

Maguire told jurors the time frame for Blackmon to drive to Hayward, kill Henderson and get back to the East Bay to establish an alibi was too tight. Blackmon originally told police he was never on the Peninsula but Maguire conceded his location during closing arguments, explaining he was nearby to visit Butler at work before changing his mind.

Blackmon’s whereabouts were pinpointed through a series of cell phone calls which formed a key point of both sides’ case in the trial.

While Giannini maintained nobody else had a motive to kill Henderson, Maguire said another of Butler’s lovers could have committed the murder.

Although police long suspected Blackmon, he was not arrested until March 23, 2007.

Prior to the first trial, Blackmon turned down multiple offers to settle including one for six years, according to Maguire. Even if the District Attorney’s Office wants to resolve the case, Maguire said she isn’t certain her client will agree.

If convicted of first-degree murder by a jury, Blackmon faces 75 years to life in prison because he has a prior conviction for rape.

Blackmon remains in custody in lieu of $2 million bail.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.