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Jury reaches some verdicts in "hit-and-run grannies" case

By Jacqueline Dowd

Jurors submitted some verdicts to the judge in a sealed envelope before retiring for the day in the murder-for-profit trial of two elderly women.

They also asked the court what happens if they are not unanimous on one of the criminal counts involving the deaths of two homeless men. The judge referred them to a jury instruction which deals with the possibility of reaching agreement on a lesser charge. The only lesser charge possible in the case is second-degree murder rather than first-degree.

The defendants, Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, spent the day in a holding cell at the courthouse awaiting the verdict.

The jury is continuing its deliberations today.

Read the San Jose Mercury News report here.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).