After deliberating on a verdict for roughly three hours in the murder trial against Robert Torian, the man accused in the 2019 fatal shooting death of Terrill Moore, a jury was unable to come to a unanimous verdict.
The foreperson of the jury informed the court that they believed further deliberation would not result in a verdict, which resulted in a hung jury—so Judge Andrew Self declared it a mistrial. Judge Self told the jury that this is not uncommon, as it can be difficult to get 12 people to agree unanimously on anything, much less something with such weight as the outcome of murder trial.
The judge explained what happens next—parties will continue to work towards a resolution in this case, whether that be by taking it front of a new jury or coming to agreement between the Commonwealth and the defense.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Dennis Foust requested he be given time to speak with the victim’s family before setting a new trial date, so a pretrial hearing was set for October 11. Judge Self says that will be the date where they either settle or set.
If they do set it for trial, all parties agree that it would likely be a three-day trial, based on the experience of this trial and how it progressed.
Torian remains accused of shooting Moore in the head in a vehicle at party on McHenry Street, resulting in his death.