Nov. 07--MILFORD -- First, there was a verdict. Then there wasn't.
At the end of an emotional day, the fate of former Milford cop Jason Anderson was not decided.
Anderson is accused of crashing his speeding cruiser into another car, killing two teens. David Servin, the driver of the other car, and Servin's companion, Ashlie Krakowski, both were 19.
Late Tuesday morning, a six-member jury found Anderson, who was facing up to 20 years in prison on the manslaughter charges, guilty on lesser charges of negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, misconduct with a motor vehicle and reckless driving.
When Anderson heard the verdict, he stood expressionless with his hands folded and resting on his gray suit.
Lori Krakowski, Ashlie's grandmother, turned to friends and family and said, "That's not fair." People hugged her.
However, the jury also answered "yes" to the question of whether Servin's actions played a role in causing the crash. Servin was intoxicated at the time of the crash and didn't stop at a blinking red light before turning left into Anderson's path.
Anderson's attorney, Hugh Keefe, said the jury's answer conflicted with the guilty verdicts.
Judge Denise D. Markle agreed, and she later threw out the verdict because she said the guilty charges were inconsistent with the jury's view on what caused the accident.
If the jury decides Servin played a role in causing the crash, as they originally did, they must acquit him of all charges.
Markle sent the jury back to deliberate and find a legally acceptable result.
Later in the afternoon, the jury sent a note to the judge saying they could not, and will not, be able to come to a unanimous decision on the charges.
She called them back into the courtroom and urged them to try, and to take as much time as they need.
The jury sent another handwritten note to Markle shortly before 5 p.m. saying they still unanimously agreed that Servin's actions contributed to the accident.
As a result, Keefe argued that Anderson should be acquitted on all the charges. But Markle said the case would resume Wednesday morning at 9:30. "It's too late in the day."
Anderson, fired in December 2009 after five years on the force, faces a prison term of up to five years on the misconduct charge, up to six months on the negligent homicide charge and up to 30 days for reckless driving, along with fines, if the jury finds him guilty a second time.
The crash was unusual in that it was captured on the dash-cam of Milford police Officer Richard J. Pisani Jr., who was following Anderson at the time of the crash.
That video was shown to the jury several times during the trial.
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