Vista Jury Deadlocks on Sanity of Killer

A Vista jury was dismissed Friday after not being able to determine the sanity case of a 22-year-old Oceanside man who shot his supervisor to death earlier this year.

After a day and a half of deliberations, the seven-women, five-men jury hung 11 to 1 vote in favor of finding Jose Luis Maldonado sane when he shot Juan Lopez twice in the chest, turned to fire at another of his bosses, then returned to Lopez’ still body and shot him twice in the back of the head.

The shooting took place Jan. 29 outside a San Marcos orthopedic implement manufacturing plant while workers were taking a mid-morning break.

Last week, the same jury found Maldonado guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Lopez and of assault with a deadly weapon for shooting at Adrian Flores.

Maldonado, who had pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, did not testify during the proceedings. Two psychiatrists for the defense had argued that Maldonado had suffered from psychotic illnesses and hallucinations, including seeing visions of the devil and Martians.

Prosecutors presented a psychiatrist and a psychologist who testified that Maldonado did not suffer a mental illness and that statements Maldonado made after the shooting showed that he was aware of what he had done and the impact of the shootings.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Deputy Public Defender John Jimenez of the 11-1 vote against his client, Maldonado. “It’s just like a win to me because he’s still out of prison and there’s still a chance for another jury to be more reasonable.”

Neither jurors nor Deputy Dist. Atty. Greg Walden, who was the prosecutor in the case, could be reached for comment.

Although no official decision has been made, there is a strong likelihood that Maldonado will be retried, given the vote of the jury, Jimenez said. A date for a new trial has already been set for Aug. 18.

The defense carried the burden of proof in the sanity phase of the case and successfully convinced one juror that Maldonado was insane during the Jan. 29 shooting at Professional Care Products Inc. in San Marcos.