Jurors in shovel-beating case may be struggling

Jurors in the murder trial for three men charged with beating 22-year-old Jerry Ramirez with a shovel in 2005 were still deliberating for verdicts Wednesday, but court records signaled their possible trouble.
On Monday, Judge Bryan F. Foster and the lawyers in the case talked with the jurors after they advised the court shortly after 4 p.m. that they were deadlocked.
"Court finds the jurors are deadlocked and sends them back for further deliberation," according to San Bernardino Superior Court records.
The records also state that two of the jurors were "visibily upset." A juror also sent the court a note requesting to speak to the court about another juror.
No further information was available. Deputy District Attorney Karen Khim, who is prosecuting the case, did not return a phone call for comment.
Court officials confirmed jurors were still deliberating for verdicts just before 4 p.m. Wednesday in the trial for Edward Hernandez, his brother Benjamin Hernandez and Alfred Rodriguez.
Authorities have focused on a dispute over Ramirez's intimate relationship with the then-15-year-old daughter of Benjamin Hernandez. Defense lawyers have denied their client's alleged roles.
Ramirez was taken to a carport at an East Pumalo Street residence and beaten multiple times with a shovel about noon on Nov. 18, 2005, according to San Bernardino County prosecutors.
Still alive after the beating, Ramirez was rolled up in blankets, put into the trunk of a car and taken from the home. His body was found dumped in Waterman Canyon with several gunshot wounds to the head two days later.
The defendants were charged with murder and conspiracy.
A fourth defendant in the case, Edward Vincent Hernandez, is awaiting a separate trial and returns to court on July 31.