Hung jury possible in Young trial

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1999 | 1:20 a.m.

The jury deciding whether convicted quadruple murderer Terrell Cochise Young will face the death penalty could be declared a hung jury if it does not reach a verdict by this afternoon.

As it began its third day of deliberations, the jury sent a note to District Judge Joseph Pavlikowski seeking clarification about the possible sentences.

The judge responded by referring to a jury instruction on the issue. Jurors were not brought into the courtroom to explain the problem or the status of deliberations.

Pavlikowski also said the jury may continue in its quest until later today.

If no verdict is reached, he will decide this afternoon whether to declare a hung jury.

Before returning to the county courthouse today, jurors had already spent 12 hours over two days trying to decide if Young should be punished with the death penalty or sent to prison for the rest of his life, either with or without parole.

Prosecutors have called the 20-year-old defendant "the worst of the worst" for his role in a well-planned robbery on Aug. 14, 1998, that ended with four duct-taped victims being executed with single bullets to the back of the head.

Although Young wasn't alleged to be the triggerman, he admitted to police that he sat sipping a beer and guarding the victims while two others ransacked the house in search of what was believed to be $6,000 in cash and a stash of drugs.

Only about $200 and a few pills were found, according to Young's confession.

The case already has been difficult for the nine-woman, three-man jury.

Several jurors broke into tears last week when they announced their decision to convict Young of four counts of first-degree murder. Young had smiled and shrugged at jurors when he was pronounced guilty.

But when the foreperson laughed nervously after making a mistake in reading the verdicts, Young scowled and snapped, "What's so funny?"

That sent the foreperson into tears and other jurors followed.

Even before jury selection was completed two weeks ago, the jurors witnessed Young explode in court, tossing documents around the courthouse and then overturning the prosecution's table.

He was fitted with a stun belt -- in essence a remote controlled stun gun device -- and it was activated when he spit on his own lawyers.

What jurors didn't witness, but heard about during the penalty hearing, was Young's attack on a jail corrections officer just minutes after the guilty verdict.

At the time, Young was being returned to his cell and the stun belt had been removed.

Two officers had to be treated at a hospital.

That event occurred just after Young's mother, Willena Warren, attacked defense attorney Lew Wolfbrandt in the courtroom in outrage at the conviction.