Lopes lawyer asks for mistrial after jury twice tells judge it is deadlocked

DEDHAM – Emanuel Lopes' lawyer is seeking a mistrial after jurors in the Weymouth double-murder trial twice told the judge Monday that they can't reach a verdict.

"We're still arriving at a hung jury situation," the jury said in a note to Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone after she received the first note and told jurors to keep deliberating.

Cannone told them to take Tuesday off because of the expected snowstorm and return to Dedham Superior Court on Wednesday. The jurors are from Bristol County.

Cannone told them to ignore any media coverage of the trial.

Lopes is accused of murder in the 2018 shooting deaths of Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna and town resident Vera Adams. He admits shooting them but his defense team says he is not criminally responsible because of his mental illness.

After the jury's second note Monday, Lopes' lawyer, Larry Tipton, asked Cannone to declare a mistrial, but the judge did not answer the request.

After receiving the jury's first note, Cannone said the case is "very complex" and sent a note to the jury asking members to "please continue your deliberations."

The jury has deliberated for about 14 hours since Thursday.

Lopes' first trial ended in a hung jury July 10 after a juror refused to deliberate any further, preventing the jury from reaching a unanimous verdict and resulting in a mistrial. That jury came from Worcester County.

Lopes, 26, of Brockton, shot Chesna and Adams on July 15, 2018, in Weymouth. Prosecutors say Lopes hit Chesna with a large rock, stole his gun and shot at two other police officers.

The jury heard closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense and instructions from Cannone before beginning their deliberations early Thursday afternoon.

Lopes' defense in Weymouth shooting deaths: Mental health issues

In his closing argument, Tipton asked the jury to carefully consider the "thousands" of pages of medical records dealing with Lopes' mental health introduced as evidence in the trial as well as the testimony of expert witnesses for the defense.

"He was diagnosed with multiple mental health problems," he said.

Tipton said his client was "afraid to be crazy."

"There were times he was normal. There were times he pretended to be normal," Tipton said of Lopes.

In the weeks leading up to the shootings, Lopes was exhibiting signs of major mental illness, Tipton said.

There is no question that Lopes shot Chesna and Adams, Tipton said. But Lopes could not appreciate that his actions were wrong, Tipton said.

"He admits he shot him. He admits a tragedy occurred," Tipton said. "We ask you to find Mr. Lopes not guilty because he lacked criminal responsibility."

Prosecutor: Lopes' actions were deliberate choices

Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor said the case "is about the murder of two people: Mike Chesna and Vera Adams."

He said Lopes' mental illness did not interfere with his ability to conform his behavior to the law. Lopes chose to throw the rock and aim for Chesna's head, chose to take the officer's gun, and then chose to stand over the uniformed police officer and fire eight shots at him, four to his head, Connor said.

Lopes fired three shots at Adams because she saw the attack on Chesna, Connor said. Adams was inside her home when she was shot.

When the gun was empty, Lopes surrendered to police, the prosecutor said.

"He can appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions," Connor said of Lopes. "His life is changed forever. The lives of Vera Adams and Mike Chesna are over forever."

The 12 jurors and four alternates were selected in Bristol County and brought by bus to Dedham each day.

How the South Shore remembers Chesna, Adams

Chesna, 42, had been a Weymouth police officer for six years. A 1994 graduate of Weymouth High School, he served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan and received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. He is survived by his wife, Cindy, and two children.

The gym at Chapman Middle School, a street hockey rink where he lived in Hanover and a bridge on Route 18 in Weymouth are all named for Chesna.

Adams loved reading, and a reading room at Weymouth's Tufts Library is named for her.

Reach Fred Hanson at fhanson@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Lopes jury can't reach verdict. Deliberations to resume Wednesday