Judge orders retrial on deadlocked charges in Joel Gonzales case

Three charges over which jurors could not reach a verdict in the case against a Camarillo man accused of a string of violent crimes will be heard again in a new trial, a judge ruled Thursday.

The Ventura County jury that heard the case against Joel Gonzales convicted him of the attempted murder of a 6-year-old girl but could not agree on whether the crime was premeditated as opposed to an impulsive decision. They also deadlocked on the charges filed over allegations that he attacked a 90-year-old woman at the Camarillo care home where he worked but convicted him of assault of another woman in the home.

All 12 jurors must agree that someone is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for a verdict to be reached in criminal trials. The court docket shows they voted 10-2 to convict on the charge of lewd act on a dependent adult and 11-1 on kidnapping to rape a disabled person, both in relation to the 90-year-old woman. All but one of the jurors found that the attempted murder of the child was premeditated.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ryan Wright, who presided over the trial, granted the prosecution’s request for a retrial on the three issues.

Gonzales, 28, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the series of crimes he was accused of committing over a three-day span in October 2020. He was tried under the first phase of his insanity trial, when jurors deliberated over whether he intentionally committed the crimes, which is considered the guilt phase.

After jurors delivered their verdict Monday for the guilt phase, the case was headed to the insanity phase to determine if Gonzales was legally insane at the time he is accused of committing the attacks. By the time of their verdict, jurors had been meeting behind closed doors for more than a week, including deliberations and a rehearing of the defendant's testimony.

Wright decided to postpone the insanity phase until the contested issues are retried, according to the court docket.

He dismissed the jury that had heard the case during the two-month trial and said a new jury would be seated to hear both the retrial and the insanity phase.

The retrial would not start before Aug. 26, the docket shows. Gonzales remained in Ventura County jail.

Kathleen Wilson covers courts, mental health and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-206-8805.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Retrial ordered for deadlocked charges in Joel Gonzales case