Extra Juror Causes Murder Case Mistrial

Confusion inside a Harris County courthouse forced a judge to declare a mistrial in a man's murder trial on Tuesday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Charles Mapps is accused of killing his girlfriend, Roseann Siddell, in the 300 block of West Little York Road on Oct. 13, 2007. She was shot in the head while in bed inside an apartment she shared with Mapps.

When the jury came back to announce it had reached a verdict of guilty, there were 13 jurors instead of 12. A substitute bailiff apparently allowed a dismissed alternate juror to vote in the verdict, state District Judge Mark Kent Ellis said.

The mixup prompted the judge to declare a mistrial.

"We're all heart-sickened by this," Assistant District Attorney John Barnhill said. "It is a very unfortunate incident. We are truly sorry for the family who will have to go through this trial again. They're the real victims here." "I don't want either family to have to go through it again," defense attorney Skip Cornelius said.

"I don't want the victim's family to go through it again. It's a very sad situation."

Mapps had confessed to the killing, but he claimed it was that part of a suicide pact. Ellis said he's never seen a mistrial like this before.
"I told him (the bailiff) I never want to see him in my courtroom again," Ellis said.Sheriff's spokesman Paul Mabry said the man had been substituting at the courthouse for about a year. Mabry said he did not know the bailiff's name.