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Michael McFarland convicted in Silverton manslaughter trial

Jury decides on lesser charge

SILVERTON – Residents here reacted with a mixture of sadness, stoicism and bitterness Thursday after a jury found Mike McFarland guilty of the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide instead of manslaughter in the killing of his 32-year-old wife, Jessica McFarland, last year at their Silverton home.

The jury – nine men and three women – was hung on the count of second-degree assault, and District Judge Greg Lyman ruled a mistrial on that charge.

The District Attorney’s Office can choose to retry Michael McFarland on that charge at a later date.

“I’m just glad he got something,” said resident Melanie Bergolc, who knows the parents of both Michael and Jessica.

“I’m sure the jury did as fair a job as they could do,” resident Spike Bond said Thursday evening while eating at Mattie and Maude’s, the only restaurant open in town. “It’s time to move on.”

After the morning’s deliberations, many jurors looked upset and exhausted when summoned into the courtroom to report their progress. Even in finally giving their verdict, two jurors said they still thought the defendant was guilty of manslaughter.

Mike McFarland and his defense attorney, Joel Fry, seemed relieved when they heard the verdict. Michael left court shortly after the verdict with his family.

On the other side of the courtroom standing in the gallery’s front row, Linda Davis, Jessica’s mother, quietly cried. A woman hugged her. She left the courtroom almost immediately.

Michael and Jessica had been arguing when they arrived home June 6, 2014. Michael is accused of throwing a mug at his wife. She suffered several cuts on her body, and, according to the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Jessica, her lung collapsed, and blood filled the cavity over the course of several minutes.

Mark Hall, one of the three jurors who held out for negligent homicide, said ultimately he felt that Michael’s defense – that he wasn’t there when Jessica suffered the wounds that killed her – didn’t wash. But, he said, he didn’t think the state had “proved he hit with her a glass – not beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“Now, I just want us to heal,” he said.

It was the first manslaughter trial in Silverton in more than 30 years.

Michael and Jessica grew up in Silverton, where they attended Silverton High School. As married adults, they had two children they were raising in town. Many people called to jury duty said they knew one or both of them, as well as many of the people on the witness list.

The close-knit community members were still processing the outcome after the jury deliberated for three days. Several residents did not want to talk about the verdict, saying their feelings were too raw.

According to one juror, Bev Rich, chairwoman of the San Juan County Historical Society, deliberations were courteous, morally serious and draining.

“Everybody had their say,” she said. “And everybody listened to each other.”

At the time the jury rendered its verdict, nine jurors were voting to convict McFarland of assault and manslaughter, while three held out because “they just didn’t think that the prosecution presented enough evidence to them to reach a conclusion about assault and manslaughter. And it’s not like we didn’t go through the evidence. I disagreed – but I respect that,” Rich said.

In the end, Rich said, the jurors could achieve unanimity only on the lesser charge of negligent homicide.

Margot Early, who observed much of the trial, said she was disappointed.

“I found the pathologists’ evidence convincing. I thought he was guilty on both counts,” she said.

Sixth Judicial District Attorney Todd Risberg said he spoke briefly to Jessica’s mother after the verdict.

“Her daughter is dead,” he said. “There is nothing that can help her with that. There’s no joy in this guilty verdict. Everybody’s still lost Jessica.”

Sentencing is set for June 12.

Michael McFarland faces anywhere from one to three years in prison for negligent homicide, and, if eventually convicted, five to 16 years for second-degree assault, according to Risberg. But prison time isn’t mandatory for negligent homicide.

cmcallister@durangoherald.com

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