After four days of deliberations, a mistrial was declared on April 29 in a Midway District murder trial after 11 jurors told a judge a 12th juror was not deliberating with them.

Jurors deadlocked 11-1 in the case against Armando Manuel Parras, 33, who is accused of fatally stabbing Joshua Goodman, 44, in the heart at the McDonald’s restaurant on Midway Drive on Aug. 30, 2023, at 11:30 a.m.

The 11 jurors did not say which way they were leaning before the mistrial was declared by San Diego Superior Court Judge David Berry. A tentative date for retrial was set for June 18.

Berry questioned all jurors individually in open court to see if the situation could be resolved before he declared a mistrial. In a note, jurors asked that an alternate juror be appointed to replace Juror 9 they complained about.

“It’s almost as if he doesn’t understand. He’s not open-minded. He doesn’t engage,” said Juror 4.

“He won’t share what he’s thinking. He turned his chair around,” said Juror 8, adding that he faced the wall instead of the other jurors.

“It seems overwhelming to him. He’s overwhelmed by this situation.” said Juror 6.

“He did not participate in any deliberations. He did not reply to our questions,” said Juror 7.

“He strongly believes PTSD absolves you of any wrongdoing,” said Juror 5. “He goes silent. He believes this and he’s entitled to his opinion.”

“He’s unwilling to communicate… maybe mental health regards,” said Juror 10.

Juror 9 denied all of the accusations by his fellow jurors and said he was deliberating with them. Juror 9 said he was “attacked” verbally by two jurors, saying “They’re not happy with what I’m giving them.”

“I respected all their opinions,” said Juror 9, adding his own opinions were not respected.

After all jurors were out of the room, Deputy District Attorney Seralyn Fields asked Berry to dismiss Juror 9 and replace him with an alternate juror.

“He is physically turning his chair. That is not a deliberating juror,” said Fields.

Parras’ attorney Monica Ruiz, objected to dismissing Juror 9, saying “he did participate, he was engaging. He did give his own experience.”

Berry noted that he had studied a recent appeal of a case in which a judge dismissed a juror and the defendant was convicted, but an appeal overturned the conviction, saying the dismissal of a juror was improper.

Berry said he found that Juror 9 did participate in deliberations, particularly at the start of discussions, and said he could not find grounds to dismiss Juror 9.

Jurors had earlier sent a note in that said they were deadlocked 11-1, so the note was essentially re-submitted, and Berry declared a mistrial at 6:08 p.m.

“I know we are well past normal court hours,” said Berry to jurors and court staff.

Meanwhile, Brittany Marie Wolf, 36, was sentenced on April 24 to eight months in jail for giving a ride to Parras and acting as an accessory after the fact to murder.

“She drove off with the killer,” said Berry, in denying her request for probation.

“I’m sorry that someone lost their life. I was really scared,” said Wolf.

According to testimony, Parras got out of a minivan and stabbed Goodman, leaving Wolf at the wheel, who then picked him up after the stabbing.

Wolf received credit for 92 days in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility, and her projected release is set for July 10.