Cooper case ends in mistrial, no decision yet on whether he will be retried in jail death

A judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of former Richland County corrections officer Mark Cooper, accused of causing the death of a jail inmate.

The 10-man, two-woman jury deliberated for about 12 hours over the course of three days before the foreperson sent a note to Common Pleas Court Judge Brent Robinson, telling him they could not come to a consensus on any of the three counts Cooper faced.

Cooper, 56, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, one a first-degree felony, the other a third-degree felony; and reckless homicide, a third-degree felony.

Cooper's charges were in connection with the death of Alexander Rios, 28, after the inmate was subdued by several corrections officers on Sept. 19, 2019. Rios was in the county jail on a warrant.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," said Special Prosecutor Forrest Thompson, of Medina County. "I felt that we put forth the proper evidence.

"I think the jury had everything they needed to make a decision. I respect their decision, but I'm not going to agree with it."

Decision on whether to retry case still to come

Thompson, who tried the case with Scott Salisbury, said he did not know if the case would be retried.

"The decision on whether or not this case will be tried again will have to be discussed," he said. "This is a Richland County case. I was assigned as a special prosecutor.

"My responsibilities have effectively concluded with this verdict. Whether or not they want someone else to proceed or how they choose to proceed is in the purview of the Richland County Prosecutor's Office."

Reached by phone, Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher said she has a "lot of things to muddle through" in making a decision.

"We feel good about where we are right now," defense attorney James Mayer III said. "We expect the state to take a look at where they are, but the ball is firmly in their court. For us, all options are on the table."

Mayer, who tried the case with Sean Boone, said he thought there would be a pretrial hearing on the matter in the next three or four weeks.

"We liked our case," he said. "We felt the case tried really well from our side, and we felt like we were in it."

About a half-dozen loved ones of Rios were in court for the decision. They declined to comment.

Following the confrontation with corrections officers, Rios was taken to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, but he never regained consciousness. His family took him off life support eight days later.

The official cause of death was excited delirium, which is no longer recognized by many medical organizations.

In a jail video, several corrections officers can be seen holding Rios down, stepping and kneeling on his back while an officer punches his head into the concrete floor and they struggle to handcuff him.

Prosecutors claim Cooper caused death by standing on Rios' back with both feet

Cooper stood on Rios' back with both feet, which prosecutors claimed caused his death.

The jury began deliberating Tuesday afternoon and resumed on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Robinson met with jurors on the record around 10 a.m. after the foreperson said they could not reach a consensus on the third count, reckless homicide, and had not even started deliberating on the two involuntary manslaughter counts.

Robinson encouraged the jury to continue deliberating and told the foreperson to send him another note if further deliberations were not going to produce a verdict.

Jurors took a break at 11:30 a.m. as parties from both sides of the case returned to the third floor of the courthouse.

Robinson called them back into court shortly thereafter and declared a mistrial.

The judge held an exit interview with jurors.

Judge, defense attorney praise jury

"I think they gave it their all," Robinson said. "They worked on it for a long, long time."

He said mistrials happen "every once in awhile." Robinson declined to reveal the split jurors had on the three charges.

Mayer said he was not surprised by the length of deliberations and praised the jurors.

"That group of 12 paid super-close attention. I don't think there was a moment they weren't paying attention," he said. "I think they went back there, and I think they were determined to resolve this with a verdict.

"We're satisfied that they did the best they could, and they were a good group."

Thompson shared his frustrations outside the courthouse.

"It's how our system works," he said. "I don't have to agree with it, but it's how it works."

Mayer said it was a tough case for all involved.

"To have it hanging for four years, have a week-and-a-half trial and to end up right back where you were, it's tough for everybody," he said.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Cooper case ends in mistrial, no decision yet on another trial