Judge denies request to declare mistrial in death penalty case

The federal judge in the Naeem Williams death penalty trial rejected a call from defense lawyers to declare a mistrial because the jury is taking too long to decide Williams’s fate.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright on Wednesday also denied a request from the defense lawyers for him to declare that Williams will get a life prison term instead of a death sentence.

The jurors have completed six full days of deliberation on whether or not Williams, 34, should be put to death or sent to prison for the rest of his life for killing his 5-year-old daughter Talia in their military family quarters at Wheeler Army Airfield in 2005.

They are scheduled to resume their deliberations Thursday.