A San Mateo County Superior Court judge declared a mistrial today in the case of a man accused of murdering his lover's husband in 2006, after jurors said they were unable to reach a verdict.
Jurors deliberated for about a week after the monthlong trial of Samuel Blackmon, 46, and told Judge Mark Forcum this morning that seven believed Blackmon was guilty and five believed he was not.
A new trial date was set for May 4.
Blackmon has been held in county jail in lieu of $2 million bail since his arrest in 2007 for the July 6, 2006, shooting death of Jeffrey Henderson, according to Deputy District Attorney Al Giannini.
Beatriz Butler, the woman at the center of the apparent love triangle, had married Henderson on June 15, 2006, but was also engaged to Blackmon, according to prosecutors.
Giannini said today the trial was based largely on circumstantial evidence.
Cell phone records tied Blackmon to the area of the murder in Redwood City when Henderson was killed, but Blackmon insisted he was in the East Bay at the time of the shooting, Giannini said.
