PANAMA CITY -- Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the murder trial of Philip Dean Brock are likely hoping the third time is the charm after a second mistrial was declared in the case.
A 12-person jury began deliberations shortly after 4 p.m. Friday in Brock's re-trial in the slaying of his friend and neighbor, Terry Brazil. At nearly midnight, after nearly eight hours, they could not decide Brock's fate. Brock is also charged with grand theft and robbery with a firearm in the December 2012 killing. He faces life in prison if convicted.
A tentative date for preliminary hearings in the third trial has been set for Dec. 9.
Friday, another friend and neighbor of Brock was questioned in the case. Pursuing his theory that Brock was destitute and killed Brazil for money, prosecutor Larry Basford asked Nelson Singer for details on Brock's lifestyle. Singer said that Brock would come over to use his shower and toilet because Brock did not have running water at his Fountain home. Brock had solar power at his home, Singer said, but it provided only enough electricity to run small electronic devices like radios.
Basford also asked Singer to confirm that because Brock had no running water, Brock would sometimes use the bathroom in a bag and dispose of it in Singer's garbage can. Singer, though, said he was unaware of that.
Two of Brock's ex-girlfriends answered similar questions earlier in the trial. During defense attorney Kim Jewell's closing argument Friday, she said she took exception to the questions.
"If this was a prosecution for Dean Brock being poor, I'd let you have it ... But it became offensive to put two women on the stand to explain bathroom conditions," she said.
Jewell also took more jabs at the Bay County Sheriff's Office's investigation of Brock, which she has criticized since hearings for the first trial began in July. But she used another law enforcement agency to downplay the importance of DNA evidence against Brock, 57. Presenting a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report to the jury, she noted that the DNA of several other people besides Brock was found on key pieces of evidence, as well as at the murder scene.
"It's easy to say, 'Ok, his DNA was there.' Well, it's easy to say someone else's DNA was there, too," she said.
In his closing argument, Basford implored jurors to use "common sense." If they did, he said, the connection between Brock, the evidence, and Brazil's death would be obvious.
"They want you to believe you have to have every piece of the puzzle to see this picture clearly," he said, referring to Brock's attorneys. "You don't."
In both of Brock's trials, however, jurors apparently did need more pieces of the puzzle. After the jury deliberated for six hours in Brock's first trial in September, a non-decision was returned and a mistrial was declared.
About 11 p.m. Friday was when the new jury indicated the re-trial was headed toward the same outcome. Judge Brantley Clark summoned the jurors to the courtroom after they reached an impasse, and he asked them to continue working toward a verdict. Eight jurors were prepared to find Brock guilty; two thought he was not guilty; and two were undecided, according to Clark.
Shortly before midnight, the jury remained deadlocked and another mistrial was declared.
Brazil, 65, was found shot, stabbed and beaten on Dec. 27 inside his home, and duct tape was found around his wrists, indicating he'd been tied up. His car, several guns, and sets of valuable collectible coins had been stolen. Investigators found the car in Brock's possession. Later, when investigators searched for additional evidence after the first mistrial, $12,000 in silver coins was discovered hidden on Brock's property.
Brock's defense argued that his property was vulnerable to trespassers since his arrest last year, making the origin of the coins disputable.
The gun and knife used in the killing were not found. But investigators did recover a bed post they believe was used to cause blunt force injuries to Brazil's skull.
"He was robbed of his firearms, robbed of his coins -- but more importantly, he was robbed of his life," Basford said to jurors Friday.
Throughout the re-trial, Brock watched in silence and showed no emotion. He did not testify. Several of Brock's relatives attended the proceedings, but Brock did not look at them.
At Brock’s first trial in September, a jury deliberated more than six hours before being unable to reach a verdict. Judge Brantley Clark declared a mistrial, leading to the second trial.
His son, Philip Logan Brock, who testified during the re-trial because he was present when investigators found the hidden coins, said the ongoing nature of the case has become frustrating. He would not comment further because he will likely testify again in his father's third trial.
Other relatives of Brock also appeared enervated by the second mistrial. They would not comment.