Jury Deadlocked On Rape Charges Against NYPD Officer Michael Pena
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A jury has deadlocked on rape charges a day after an off-duty New York City police officer was convicted of sexually assaulting a schoolteacher he grabbed off the street.
The Manhattan district attorney said Wednesday jurors "did not reach consensus'' on two counts of rape and two related charges against 28-year-old Michael Pena.
1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reports
Podcast
On Tuesday, the jury found Pena guilty of three counts of predatory sex assault -- which is punishable by up to life in prison, for possessing a weapon, and three counts of criminal sex acts involving "touching."
The victim, a 25-year-old second grade school teacher, had testified Pena forced her at gunpoint off an Inwood street last August and raped her.
WCBS 880's Irene Cornell On The Case
Podcast
Pena admits sexually attacking the woman, but denies raping her.
The defense said the victim was in such "abject terror'' that she was mistaken about the extent of what happened.
(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
