Mistrial declared for Chester councilman’s accused killer after jury deadlocks

Jurors in the trial for the man accused of killing a Chester city councilman deadlocked Saturday, forcing a mistrial.

The Fairfield County jurors deliberated about two hours Saturday morning before sending a note to Circuit Court Judge Paul Burch, saying they could not reach a verdict on whether Christopher Moore was guilty or not guilty of murder.

“Is the jury hopelessly deadlocked?” Burch asked the forewoman. She said yes.

Moore, 19, is charged with fatally shooting Chester City Councilman Odell Williams in 2014. Four other co-defendants are charged as accessories.

A judge moved the trial to Fairfield County after determining the media coverage the case had received would prevent Moore from getting a fair trial in Chester County.

Williams, 69, was shot in the head while chasing a pickup carrying the five co-defendants the night of Nov. 4, 2014. He crashed his burgundy Cadillac coupe into a home on Roundtree Circle, and was later pronounced dead at Chester Regional Medical Center.

Prosecutors have said Moore was waiting at the entrance to Roundtree Circle and ambushed the city councilman and retired police officer, who had been pursuing the truck across town, as he turned onto the horseshoe-shaped street.

During pre-trial motions Monday, Burch denied a defense motion for immunity from prosecution under South Carolina’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Still, defense lawyers argued Moore shot Williams in self-defense after Williams fired multiple gunshots at the truck while chasing it across town.

Williams started following the pickup as it left Featherstone Road after a robbery attempt by the suspects fell through that night, according to testimonly.

Moore appeared to be holding back a smile as the deadlocked jury was announced Saturday. He hugged his attorney and smiled and blew a kiss to his family members before being escorted from the courtroom. He will remain in the Chester County Detention Center until the case is retried.

Members of Williams’ family appeared stoic after the mistrial was declared, and did not wish to speak with reporters afterward.

Both families were in the courtroom for the entire trial.

“We’re grateful and thankful to God that he still has a chance,” Lawrence Moore, Chris Moore’s father, told reporters outside the courthouse Saturday. “As much as we hate the fact that it happened to Mr. Williams, I don’t want my son to go to jail for the rest of his life for something he tried to avoid.”

Lawrence Moore expressed sympathy for Williams’ family, and said while he never interacted with Williams, he knew of him in the community.

“I am sorry for what happened to him,” he said. “But at the end of the day, you can’t take matters into your own hands. You can’t take the law into your own hands. That’s why we have the police.”

The mistrial came after jurors heard three days of testimony that included more than 30 witnesses and nearly 100 exhibits.

The case went to the jury Friday afternoon, and after about five hours of deliberation, the jurors asked to come back Saturday morning to continue deliberating.

After barely an hour in the deliberation room Saturday, the jury sent a note to Burch saying: “We’re unable to reach the same verdict. What do we do now?”

Burch gave the jury what is known as an “Allen charge,” in which he urged the jury to give deliberation another try and informed them the case would have to be retried if they were unable to reach a verdict.

Sixth Circuit Solicitor Randy Newman declined to comment on the outcome of the trial but said his office will meet with investigators this week to discuss a timeframe for retrying the case.

“We just have to start all over again,” he said.

It’s not clear where the case will be tried next time, but Newman said it will not be in Chester County.

Moore’s four co-defendants, three of whom testified this week, are still awaiting trial.

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Mistrial declared for Chester councilman’s accused killer after jury deadlocks."