GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A juror is speaking out after the latest mistrial for a Gwinnett County father who is accused in his daughter’s death.
Cledir Barros is preparing to be tried for a third time in connection to the death of 8-year-old Sayra Barros, who died after investigators said her step-mother beat her to death with a rolling pin in January.
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The first two trials ended in a mistrial due to hung juries. Jury selection for the third trial is set to start on Friday. Prosecutors can technically keep prosecuting the case until there is verdict.
Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson spoke to one juror who voted to acquit.
The juror asked not to be identified but said the emotions of the case really affected the jury and why it was so hard for all 12 people to agree.
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“It was an emotional trial,” he said. “The state is just going to have to prove a little more with their evidence on what Cledir actually knew. I had a reasonable doubt from the evidence that the state presented.”
Barros has been charged with child cruelty. Prosecutors argue that Barros knew his wife, Natiela Barros, was abusive but he withdrew Sayra from school and left her with her anyway.
His lawyers argued that Barros is a truck driver and spent much of his time on the road and away from home.
Natiela Barros is charged separately with murder.
The juror said that the male and female jurors from the last trial often disagreed.
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“I think for the male jurors, they looked at it from a father’s side or aspect of it, and that’s where it kind of split,” he said.
Emory Law School Professor Kay Levine said a third trial is not unprecedented but it may require some changes.
“So the prosecutor’s office has to spend quite a bit of time figuring out what they expect would be different,” Levine said.
Barros faces up to ten years in prison.
The juror said that even if Barros is never convicted, he still has to live without his daughter.
“That’s how he ended up failing his daughter, by misplaced trust,” the juror said.
The first trial ended with 11 jurors voting guilty and one voting not guilty. The second trial ended with seven voting guilty and five voting not guilty.
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