Jury in Ellicott murder case struggles to reach verdict | News, sports, jobs

MAYVILLE – A Chautauqua County jury is struggling to reach a verdict in the trial of an Ellicott man accused in the death of his stepfather.

On Friday around 2 p.m., the twelve-member group sent a note saying that they were “stuck” in the trial of 20-year-old Tucker Richard, who shot and killed Scott Blake on January 6, 2023.

The trial began on October 21, after four days of jury selection. The consultations started on Thursday and continued on Friday.

At the time of the note, Judge David Foley said it was too early to declare a mistrial. “They haven’t had this case in a significant amount of time,” he said in court before the jury was reinstated.

Richard has been charged with second-degree murder. Foley told the jury before deliberations began that they could consider the lesser charge of negligent homicide if they found Richard not guilty of second-degree murder.

When the jury was back in the courtroom, Foley asked them to deliberate further. “It is not unusual for a jury to initially have difficulty reaching a unanimous verdict,” he said.

Foley encouraged them to look at the facts of the case with a fresh mind to see if the evidence leads to the suspect being guilty or not. “Do everything possible to reach a fair and just judgment,” he said.

When the jury sent the note, they had been deliberating for a total of about six and a half hours over two days.

They continued until about 4:40 PM, when they asked for a break for the weekend.

During deliberations on Friday, the jury asked for 27 different photographs for further examination, and for some of Dr. Tara Mahar of the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office. They specifically asked when she discussed the stab wound discovered on Blake’s body.

The reading of her testimony took about 15 minutes.

They also asked the judge to review the definitions of second-degree murder, criminally negligent homicide and the term “initial aggressor,” referring to self-defense.

The defense does not disagree that Richard killed Blake, but they have stated that he did so out of fear for his own life.

At trial, the defense alleged that Blake kicked in Richard’s bedroom door and hit him with an unloaded shotgun, causing it to break, after which Richard stabbed Blake. Blake then ran downstairs to get another gun and Richard took it from him and shot him after Blake tried to grab a third gun on the couch.

The prosecution has argued that Richard may have “cut up” Blake’s gun, causing Blake and Richard to argue. They then claim Richard pulled Blake’s shirt over his head, stabbed him and shot him at close range outside the house.

They also claim that Richard pulled another gun out of a closet to set up the scene so he could say his stepfather was trying to get another gun to shoot him.

The prosecution based their arguments on the hole where Blake’s shirt was cut and where Blake was stabbed, as well as the lack of birdshot recovered from the house.

They also note that Blake’s blood was found on the gun on the couch.

The jury will resume deliberations on Tuesday.