Murder retrial decision delayed again

After a 48-day jury trial ending Nov. 15, jurors could not come to a unanimous verdict on felony murder and conspiracy charges filed against Bayat, who had been accused alongside 34-year-old Hillsborough woman Tiffany Li of murdering Green April 28, 2016. Though Li was acquitted of a felony murder charge, the jury voted 6-6 and 7-5 on Bayat’s two charges and confirmed no further deliberations would yield unanimous verdicts, leading Judge Robert Foiles to declare a mistrial on his case.

Bayat had been accused by prosecutors of pulling the trigger of the gun that killed Green, who had two children with Li before the couple split in October of 2015. Though prosecutors alleged Li and Bayat plotted to have Green killed, their defense attorneys claimed their clients had nothing to do with the crime and directed the blame for Green’s death to 44-year-old Burlingame man Olivier Adella, who they claimed killed Green in a botched kidnapping attempt.

Prosecutors previously alleged Adella had been enlisted by Li and Bayat to dispose of Green’s body, and after he pleaded no contest to accessory to murder in 2018, Adella was set to serve as a key witness in the prosecution’s case against Li and Bayat, according to prosecutors.

But Adella’s case was called into question after he was accused of intimidating a witness just before Li and Bayat’s trial was to start in September, and Adella was taken back into custody. Prosecutors subsequently decided not to use Adella as a witness and he is next expected to appear in court Thursday for prosecutors’ decision on the future of his plea deal.

In April of 2017, the case made headlines when Li posted $35 million bail by putting up several Bay Area properties valued at $62 million along with $4 million in cash. Bayat was also assigned $35 million bail but remains in custody, according to prosecutors.