Second Juror Excused in UHaul Trial

Deliberations in the Santa Maria UHaul murder trial were re-started Monday morning after a second juror was excused from the panel.

According to one of the six defense attorneys, Judge Rick Brown granted the juror’s request late last Friday so he could attend to a family emergency out of state.

The excused juror was replaced by one of the five remaining alternates Monday morning.

There are now four alternate jurors from the initial pool of six after the judge excused another juror before deliberations began.

Prosecuting deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen issued a short statement about the sudden change in the jury after three days of deliberations, “one of the jurors was excused due to something unrelated to the trial. An alternate was substituted in (Monday) morning and they began deliberating all over again from the beginning.”

Judge Brown has set an end date for the trial for this Friday, April 3. It remains to be seen if the sudden change in the jury will delay that schedule.

The jury is deciding the fate of the six defendants charged in the alleged kidnapping, torture and murder of Anthony Ibarra in March of 2013 inside a Santa Maria home.

Ibarra’s naked body was found in the back of a rented U-Haul truck parked in an Orcutt neighborhood.

The prosecution says the motive for the killing was Ibarra’s unpaid drug debts to some of the defendants identified in court as either Santa Maria gang members or gang associates.

The defense has argued all six defendants had nothing to do with the murder and that the true killer has never been charged.

The jury is considering first degree murder, second degree murder or to find the defendants not guilty.

Deliberations resume Wednesday morning after the Cesar Chavez holiday on Tuesday.