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Mistrial Declared In Case of Elderly Woman Pushed to Her Death Off Gold Line Platform
The Little Tokyo Gold Line Station in 2009 (Photo by STERLINGDAVISPHOTO via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
Following a jury deadlock, a mistrial has been declared in the case of an elderly woman who was allegedly pushed off a Gold Line platform at random by a woman she did not know.
84-year-old Betty Sugiyama was chatting with her 86-year-old sister when was shoved by a woman off the platform of the Little Tokyo Gold Line station the morning of November 14, 2010. The attack was unprovoked, attested witnesses, reports City News Service.
Sugiyama had hit her head and did not regain consciousness. She died in the hospital later that night.
After the fall, authorities took Jackkqueline Pogue, now 46, into custody. She was charged with second-degree murder.
Today, however, jurors reported they were deadlocked 9-3 in favor of convicting Pogue. Jurors revealed they could not agree on whether Pogue acted deliberately, and if she fully understood the consequences of her actions.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jose I. Sandoval declared a mistrial, leaving Pogue jailed in lieu of $1 million bail, and awaiting retrial.