By Brian Anderson
Valley Times

June 28, 2001

OAKLAND -- Jurors continue deliberating today over whether a Pleasanton man convicted of killing his friend's father then flying to Reno with the victim's son did so while lying in wait and to profit, conditions that could garner a death sentence.

A day after finding Daniel Christopher Johnson, 27, guilty in the beating death of Vincent Henneberry, jurors struggled Wednesday to reach consensus on the two special circumstances. The six-man, six-woman jury told Judge Vern Nakahara at one point that they were hopelessly deadlocked.

Word of the hung jury came moments after one juror broke into tears after telling the judge and lawyers he could no longer take part in what he characterized as grueling deliberations. He returned to the panel, however, and told the judge that he could continue to discuss the matter with other jurors.

"We know what happened, so we find it frustrating," said Henneberry's sister Elizabeth Maier, who attended most of the five-week trial. "(But) they're doing what they have to do."

Jurors also asked Wednesday to hear again testimony of the pathologist who examined Henneberry's body, a friend of Johnson and the victim's son as well as the owner of a Dublin pool hall where the pair hung out.

Lawyers on both sides declined to comment on the continuing deliberations.

If Johnson is found guilty of the special circumstances, the case moves to the penalty phase where lawyers will present further evidence to jurors. They will then deliberate again to determine whether Johnson should be put to death.

Nakahara will consider the jury's decision but can decide instead to imprison Johnson for the rest of his life.

Johnson also could be acquitted of the aggravating circumstances, in which case he would be sentenced to 25 years to life with additional time for using a deadly weapon, said his defense attorney, Daniel Horowitz.

If the jury can't decide on the special circumstances, Nakahara must impanel another jury to consider the charges.

Jurors discussed the case for about three days before finding Johnson guilty Tuesday of beating to death Henneberry more than six years ago in his Pleasanton home.

"We weren't surprised at all by the verdict," Maier said. "We've sat here day in and day out. It's been really hard."

Prosecutor Colton Carmine said the evidence supported the jury's decision.

Noting that the case is ongoing, Horowitz and Johnson's parents declined to comment.

Dressed in a shirt and tie during the course of the trial, Johnson showed little emotion as Carmine told jurors that the accused Foothill High graduate hid behind Henneberry's front door with his childhood baseball bat.

He and Marc Henneberry had been stealing from the union electrician and Johnson wanted more, the prosecutor contended. On Jan. 3, 1995, as Marc Henneberry stood within earshot, Johnson clubbed his friend's father as he walked through the door of his house on Harpers Ferry Court.

They flew to Reno where they gambled, bought new western clothes and partied for a couple of days before police detectives tracked them down and took them into custody.

Marc Henneberry could go on trial after a decision in Johnson's case is reached.