Two murder trials, two hung juries.
A judge Friday afternoon declared a mistrial in the case of Austin Ford, 21, who is accused of fatally shooting his best friend on a July 2021 night in Gwinnett County’s Yellow River Park.
Ford maintains that Tori Lang, 18, killed herself after feeling suicidal that evening. Prosecutors repeatedly spotlighted Ford’s lies to police and to Lang’s family, noting that he only admitted he had been at the park with her months later--after police retrieved cell phone data which proved he had been there. That’s when Ford said that Lang had committed suicide, managing to grab the gun he had taken away from her that evening.
Ford said he had driven Lang’s car away from the scene and taken away the gun as well, throwing it into a pond.
Lang’s body was found under a tree the following morning. DeKalb County Police later found the car, burned to its frame, a few miles away.
The defense told jurors Ford’s lies had nothing to do with murder.
Jurors began deliberating shortly after 2:00 Thursday afternoon. They sent out a question asking re-watch Ford’s jail interview with police, which the judge granted. After watching the video Friday morning, they resumed deliberations; later in the morning, they asked to handle the demonstrative handgun lawyers used to illustrate their theories of the case: suicide or homicide. The judge allowed it, over defense objections. A third request to see the Gwinnett County chief medical examiner’s report and an e-mail exchange between the ME and the State was denied, as those had not been admitted into evidence.
The medical examiner, Dr. Chris Terry, testified that she was unable to rule whether Lang’s death was suicide or homicide.
Friday afternoon, jurors sent out a note to Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Deborah Fluker, hinting at what was to come.
“We, the jury, currently sit at eight guilty, four not guilty--the same position we were after one hour of deliberation yesterday,” said the note Fluker read to the courtroom. By a quarter after 5:00, the jury was done after telling the Court again that they were stuck.
“Your Honor, we are locked in our earlier vote of eight guilty, four not guilty after another two hours of deliberations. No individual has wavered in their vote. So in light of any additional evidence, we don’t see anyone’s minds changing,” read that note.
Judge Fluker then declared the mistrial and ordered that everyone would reconvene on Wednesday, August 16. That is the same morning that Ford’s mother is due to face a contempt hearing at 9:30 for taking photos of the jurors in court. Fluker also said if the defense filed a bond motion Monday, she will consider that Wednesday, as well.
“Should the State decide that they are not going to retry the case a third time, then I will address sentencing on Wednesday,” said Fluker.
Ford’s first trial, in April of 2023, ended in a mistrial after that jury deliberated for three days before declaring themselves deadlocked on murder charges. They did convict him on charges of theft and concealing a death.