[CA] Awaiting the verdict for dv murder of Officer Kaliah Harper

Jury in Hinton case heads to weekend break without verdict
By The Reporter, Vacaville
07/12/2008
After more than a day of deliberation an eight-woman, four-man jury in the Quartus Hinton murder trial broke for the weekend early Friday afternoon without reaching a verdict. The jury will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Monday. Hinton, 29, faces charges of first-degree murder with use of a firearm in the Nov. 24, 2006, gunshot slaying of his ex-girlfriend, off-duty Richmond police Officer Kaliah Ashante Harper, in front of the Fairfield Community Center following a memorial service there. During the trial, prosecuting Deputy District Attorney Chris Pedersen characterized Hinton as a jealous, controlling boyfriend who killed Harper after they broke up. Hinton's defense counsel, Chief Deputy Public Defender Michael Ogul, argued that Hinton feared for his life following the break-up, and felt that Harper had dispatched thugs to kill him after he called Harper's watch commander at the Richmond Police Department to complain about her. Hinton has pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains in custody at Solano County Jail in Fairfield. [Source]

Earlier entries:

• [CA] Richmond Police Officer Harper has been murdered by ex-boyfriend - ...Hinton's former wife, who annulled their marriage in 2002, said she learned about the killing Monday. She has not been in touch with the suspect and declined to talk about him. "I don't want to discuss him," Kalanah Clark said. "He's been out of my life for years now"...
• [CA] Trial date set for dv-killing of Officer Kaliah Harper - ...Hinton was arrested later in Vallejo, apparently after having tried to bluff police officers into shooting him during a confrontation near the Vallejo Marina...
• [CA] Ex boyfriend on trial for murder of Officer Kaliah Harper - Attorneys made opening statements Tuesday in the trial of a man charged with the 2006 gunshot slaying of an off-duty Richmond police officer...

News since:

Mother of slain officer testifies in Hinton trial
Times-Herald, Vallejo
By Sara Stroud sstroud@thnewsnet.com
07/01/2008 07:06:24 AM PDT
A Richmond police officer gunned down at a memorial service in Fairfield two years ago, had been repeatedly invited to attend the event by the man police say ultimately killed her... Moore testified that Hinton accused Harper of cheating, showing up at her home uninvited and distraught several times in the months before her daughter's death, "banging on the door and hollering," in the wee hours of the morning... [Full article here]

Murder suspect says, 'it's not an if I did it, but why'
Times-Herald, Vallejo
By Sara Stroud sstroud@thnewsnet.com
07/02/2008
...In the interviews - punctuated by Hinton's exclamations of disbelief that Harper was dead by his hand - Hinton told police he started to fear for his life after he noticed people following him.... Hinton told police he shot her twice with a .45-caliber handgun while she was in her car. After she got out, he walked around the vehicle and shot her several more times... "I was overwhelmed with jealousy," Hinton said tearfully, "I loved her and I didn't want her to be with anyone else"... [Full article here]

Agents: Hinton feared reprisal
TheReporter.com, CA
By Brian Hamlin bhamlin@thereporter.com
07/08/2008
...Hinton later told Fairfield police that he feared Harper had sent people to kill him after they broke up and he complained about her to a Richmond Police Department watch commander... Much of Hinton's fear appears to stem from a phone call he made to a watch commander with the Richmond Police Department, complaining about Harper and how she did her job. After the call, Hinton reportedly was afraid of retribution from Harper. The watch commander most likely to have taken that call, however, denied ever having received it... [Full article here]

Murder suspect takes the stand
Vallejo man says he shot police officer out of fear
By Brian Hamlin/The Reporter, Vacaville
07/09/2008
Murder defendant Quartus Lee Hinton had a girlfriend. He loved her. He feared her. And he killed her. "I killed her, yes," Hinton said during questioning by his defense counsel, Chief Deputy Public Defender Michael Ogul. "Because she was going to kill me." That was the story Hinton presented to a Solano County Superior Court jury on Tuesday when he took the witness stand in his own defense... [Full article here]