UPDATE: Judge Declares Mistrial in Duenas Trial !!!!! ~Karen Duenas, Mother Of Five Died From Multiple Stab Wounds~Husband Mark Gilbert Duenas, 53 Charged For Karen's murder

SPEECHLESS!! And  

This is Florida all over again! MOO!

After polling jurors and hearing each of them say they were “hopelessly deadlocked,” Shasta County Superior Court Judge Bradley Boeckman declared a mistrial today in the Mark Gilbert Duenas murder trial.

Deputy District Attorney Eamon Fitzgerald asked for a retrial and it was scheduled for Oct. 1.

“Really?” defense attorney Ron Powell of Rancho Cucamonga asked after Fitzgerald told Boeckman his office would retry the murder case.

Duenas, 53, is accused of murdering his wife, Karen, 51, in their Cottonwood home in May 2012.

Jurors said they were split 9-3 in favor of acquittal.

The proceedings collapsed on the third day of deliberations after trial that lasted only six days.

Earlier in the morning, the six-man, six-woman jury had reported it was deadlocked, but after some additional instruction Boeckman sent the jurors back to continue deliberations to try to break the stalemate.

Jurors returned about an hour later, saying they had not budged.

During the trial prosecutor Fitzgerald had argued Mark Duenas was unhappy in his marriage and fatally stabbed his wife of 33 years in a state of “inner-personal rage.”

“You know the defendant murdered Karen Duenas in her bed,” Fitzgerald said in closing arguments last week. “The evidence is screaming at you.”

But defense attorney Powell, who is not yet sure if he’ll be retained to represent Duenas during the retrial, ridiculed the prosecution’s evidence, saying the case against his client was based on highly questionable circumstantial evidence, unsupported theories and faulty assumptions.

Powell said after the trial was recessed he was “disappointed” by the deadlock and was also astonished the district attorney’s office will retry the case in light of a 9-3 jury vote supporting acquittal.

“People have now heard the (prosecution’s) evidence and three-quarters of them have said your evidence sucks,” he said. “You would like to think that they (the DA’s office) would learn from that and not waste the taxpayers’ money and maybe focus on who did this.”

He called the decision to retry the case “incredible, absolutely incredible.”

He also said he believes Duenas, who remains in Shasta County Jail custody with bail set at $1 million, feels somewhat vindicated by the 9-3 acquittal vote.

“He’s close to going home, yet he’s not,” he said.

Surrounded by somber and teary family members, Joe Tenney, the youngest brother of Karen Duenas, said the family has had to endure overwhelming emotional burdens since his sister was viciously murdered, but has been patient and supportive of the defendant.

“This family is close,” he said.

“We love this man,” said Terri Ortiz, youngest sister of Mark Duenas. “He’s a good man.”

Fitzgerald declined after court to talk about the case and the jury’s inability reach a unanimous verdict, saying he could not discuss it because it is being retried.

Although investigators never recovered the murder weapon, they have insisted Mark Duenas unconsciously admitted he killed his wife on a taped 911 telephone call to emergency dispatchers.

“I got ah, I killed my wife; s--t, I’m, blood everywhere,” Duenas told dispatchers, Fitzgerald said.

But Powell has steadfastly maintained his client’s words were “I found my wife sick.”

Powell, who told jurors last week that the prosecution failed miserably in proving his client guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, introduced witnesses who described the couple as happy and suggested an unknown intruder had broken into the house a stabbed Karen Duenas as she slept.

He has claimed sheriff’s investigators and prosecutors ignored and overlooked possible leads and other evidence that would have exonerated his client.

Among evidence that does not fit into the prosecution’s theory is a hair found under Karen Duenas’ fingernails.

That hair, Powell said, did not match that of his client, nor that of Karen and immediate family members, but was not additionally tested.

Powell also has said a speeding car spotted driving about a mile away from the Duenas neighborhood on the morning of death did not fit the puzzle the prosecution had pieced together.

Duenas is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murdering his wife.

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LOL! that exactly what I thought!

Too many people drinking the Kool Aid in FL!

Not this person! But ya, you are right!

Nov 01 2013

A Shasta County jury has found Mark Duenas guilty of first degree murder in a retrial.

Mark Duenas was charged with killing his wife, Karen in May 2012.

The jury began deliberations Thursday afternoon, and resumed deliberations Friday morning.

"I read it fresh from the beginning and just presented it my way," said deputy district attorney Stephanie Bridgett shortly after the verdict came down.

As the clerk read the verdict Duenas stared straight ahead, behind him his family and friends were emotional.

As he was being escorted out of the courtroom Duenas looked down at investigators and said, "I didn't do it."

Bridgett said the 911 call where she said Duenas admitted to killing his wife was a critical part of the case, but she believes the blood found on his clothing was as well.

"His clothing and the fact that no one saw visible blood, but after extensive work was done by the Department of Justice it became obvious there was blood all over those clothes," said Bridgett.

"Retrials are hard, the people have every argument you've made, every question that you've asked they have the benefit of that going in," reacted defense attorney Ron Powell.

"It's been a long time waiting for this to happen for Karen and I think that there was justice today," said Bridgett.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 6.

Powell said he plans to file an appeal.

The first trial in the Duenas case ended in a hung jury in July. Jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors indicated they reached a stalemate, with nine in favor of acquittal, three in favor of conviction.

Mark and Karen Duenas had been married for almost 33 years when her body was found in their Cottonwood home. She was discovered in bed with several stab wounds.

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Dec 06 2013

REDDING, Calif. -A Cottonwood man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Friday for the May 2012 murder of his wife Karen.

Before he was sentenced Mark Duenas chose to address the court. He was advised of the benefits and consequences of doing so by the judge and his attorney. He then began his address by thanking the marshals at the jail for their kindness and compassion and his counsel for their hard work.

"You've got to believe me, I would never hurt her. I miss her every day. I hurt for her. I hurt for my boys," said Duenas.

Duenas continued to voice his frustration over being convicted of a crime he denies he committed.

"I never thought I'd be blamed for this. Never in a million years. And this is how it turned out," said Duenas.

Karen's brother, her and Mark's son and Mark's sister also spoke at the sentencing.

Duenas told the family members in the audience, "I need to tell my family how sorry I am that I wasn't in that room to help Karen."

A Shasta County judge passed down the sentence to a silent Duenas amidst a crowded courtroom.

Duenas was found guilty in November after little more than a day of deliberations.

The first trial in the Duenas case ended in a hung jury in July. Jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors indicated they reached a stalemate, with nine in favor of acquittal, three in favor of conviction.

Duenas has maintained his claim that he is innocent even mouthing "I didn't do it," to investigators as he was led from the courtroom following the announcement of his guilty verdict.

Duenas' lawyer is filing for an appeal.


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Wow, I am so GLAD he was sentenced.

And, so much, Nite, for following up on these cases!!!!