Mistrial declared in trial of Gwinnett woman accused of murdering child

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A judge has declared a mistrial in the trial of Amy Ruiz, who is accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter.

Channel 2’s Tony Thomas learned the Gwinnett County judge said juror misconduct tainted the jury pool just before opening arguments Tuesday.

Ruiz faces charges in connection with the 2007 murder of her 2-year-old daughter Prisi.

Police believe Ruiz’ former husband, Christian Vasquez killed Prisi and hid her in the attic of the family’s Lawrenceville home before the two fled to Mexico.

Ruiz claims she was kidnapped and didn't know her daughter was dead until after the fact.
 
Her husband, Jorge Amador, said she is not happy with the delay in the trial.

“She is getting sad because she still has to deal with this. We hoped that this could be finished by this weekend,” he said.

Lawyers and the judge spent a day and a half questioning more than 70 potential jurors.

A potential juror came forward and said another had gone against the orders of the court and was researching the case on her own online and talking about it.

"Thank God one of the jurors brought it to our attention," attorney Scott Drake said.

The judge ruled the entire pool of potential jurors were tainted and declared a mistrial.

“Twenty-plus years of doing this both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, (and) I’ve never seen it happen like this,” Drake said.

It will likely be several weeks before the trial is rescheduled.

WSBTV