THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 10, 1994 TAG: 9411100621
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B08 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
The robbery and abduction trial of Darron A. ``Boss'' Sparrow, a 19-year-old former Woodrow Wilson athlete, ended in a mistrial after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
Jurors deliberated for nearly an hour and a half Monday and another hour and 45 minutes Tuesday before announcing their decision. The seven men and five women first told Circuit Judge L. Cleaves Manning that they were deadlocked Monday evening, but he told them to resume deliberations on Tuesday.
A prosecutor said a new trial would be scheduled.
Sparrow was charged with abducting and robbing a former schoolmate who was leaving a Chesapeake check cashing store last year.
His alleged accomplice, Armar Nelson, faces a capital murder trial next month for an unrelated incident.
Sparrow has been charged in three other armed robberies, including one in which a Portsmouth convenience store clerk was shot in February. He has not been convicted on any of the charges.
KEYWORDS: TRIAL ROBBERY ABDUCTION KIDNAP
by CNB