For Star subscribers: Four jurors from Christopher Clements' mistrial in the slaying of Isabel Celis, 6, said the deadlock stemmed from one person who refused to deliberate. 'We had a little girl counting on us,' one said.
Caitlin Schmidt Four of the jurors from Christopher Clements' recent mistrial said the deadlock stemmed from one person who refused to deliberate and would not vote to convict based on the standard of proof used in criminal trials.
"I hope they can sleep at night," another juror said of the holdout, who could not be reached by the Star for comment. Clements was not identified as a suspect in either case until 2017, when he led investigators to Isabel's remains in exchange for the dropping of unrelated charges. He was found guilty last year by a separate jury in Maribel's abduction and was sentenced to natural life in prison for first-degree murder and to another 17 years for kidnapping, which will be served consecutively.
During trial, they showed jurors evidence that Clements' phone was near the Celis house in the early morning hours the day Isabel was reported missing. Hours later, when he told police he'd been at home asleep, his phone pinged off towers in the area where her remains were later found. Another juror said they struggled the most listening to the 911 calls made to police the morning of Isabel's disappearance.
The other three jurors agreed that by the time deliberations began, they were also firmly convinced of Clements' guilt and understood they had an important decision to make. The juror said it was frustrating for the others to try to get this person to engage in the discussion. "There were times where we did yell, there were times that we cut each other off," said one of the jurors."We wanted to make sure that everyone understood how important this was not only to the state of Arizona, but to the Celis family."
Beyond a reasonable doubt means the evidence must be so strong that there is no reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime. The jury sent a note to Judge Marner on the first day about the holdout's refusal to deliberate and asked for guidance. They said they aren't even sure that knowing about Clements' previous conviction in Maribel's death — which the jurors did not know until Marner provided them with details after the mistrial was declared — would have changed the holdout's mind.
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