Jury Deadlocked In Trial Of Former Bordentown Police Chief Frank Nucera For Allegedly Punching Handcuffed Black Teen
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- A jury says it will come back Wednesday to keep deliberating in the hate crime trial of the retired chief of the Bordentown Police Department. The jury says it is deadlocked on two of three charges.
On Tuesday, the jury told the judge they reached a verdict on one count but did not say what that count or verdict is.
Sixty-two-year-old Frank Nucera is the former longtime police chief of Bordentown. He's accused of slamming a black teenager's head into a doorjam, then punching him while the teen was handcuffed inside a motel in 2016.
An 11-page criminal complaint also shows Nucera repeatedly used racial slurs.
At one point, he allegedly said to an officer, "The (N-words) are like ISIS. They have no value. They should line them all up and mow 'em down. I'd like to be on the firing squad. I could do it."
During his trial at the Federal Courthouse in Camden, Nucera's attorney admitted Nucera's language was inappropriate, but he argued it was not a crime.
But federal prosecutors maintain Nucera's racist outbursts suggest the teen's headslamming was racially motivated.
Nucera faces up to 20 years in prison and stands to lose his $8,800 monthly pension. His pension has been frozen since March.
The jury is expected back at the courthouse Wednesday to resume day six of deliberations.