FRESNO, Calif. – A jury's confusion over how to fulfill their duty must have felt like a ticket to freedom for Bobby Lee Pearson, who was cleared of a burglary charge and set free.
Unable to reach a verdict, Pearson's jury mistakenly signed a not-guilty form Wednesday — despite the judge later learning jurors had actually deadlocked. After his release, Pearson, 37, went to a relative's house and within hours he was killed in a fight.