The trial of NYPD hero Jonathan Diller’s accused killer was thrown into chaos Wednesday when the jury foreman claimed the panel had acquitted the defendant of first-degree murder — and one of the jurors denied it to the judge.
Diller’s widow and mother let out gasps and wails in the Queens courtroom when the foreman announced an acquittal for suspect Guy Rivera on the top count.
The jury had begun deliberating Rivera’s fate hours earlier and then entered the courtroom late in the afternoon, when the foreman told the judge they had reached a not-guilty verdict on the first-degree murder rap.
The jury had found Rivera guilty of the rest of the charges against him: aggravated manslaughter in the first degree, attempted murder in the first degree of Diller’s partner, and two weapons counts, the foreman said.
But when Judge Michael Aloise then polled the jurors one by one to verify they agreed with the verdict, they all confirmed that was the case — till juror No. 5, who told the judge “no.”
Judge Michael Aloise ordered the jury back into deliberations.
“As I told you jurors, your verdict must be unanimous. Please go back in and deliberate.”
A few minutes later, a pair of notes came in from the jury.
The first inquired how many days they would have to deliberate if they were unable to reach a verdict that day.
The second was a personal request from juror No. 8 saying she needed to make a phone call to cancel an appointment.
Judge Aloise called them back in and told them, “There is no time limit, continue deliberating,” and sent them back to the jury room.
Rivera faces life in prison without parole on the top count alone.
He would face up to 90 years without parole if convicted on all four of the other counts, with a max of 40 years on the attempted-slay rap.
