Fresno Jury Deadlocked in Trial of Woman Accused of Attempted Murder

A Fresno jury recently announced they were deadlocked in the trial of a woman accused of attempting to kill her parents. Nine jurors found Lisa Marie Alarcon, 25, guilty; two jurors found her not guilty; one juror remained undecided. The jurors indicated the deadlock could not be reconciled. As such, Fresno County Superior Court Judge John Vogt declared a mistrial.
Alarcon, a single mother of a 9-year-old child, was accused of attempting to murder her parents in their home last year while they were asleep. According to prosecutors, Alarcon’s drug abuse led to extreme disarray in her life, which only added to an already difficult relationship she had with her parents. Prosecutors further alleged that Alarcon borrowed a gun from a boyfriend who was a gang member, and then went to the outside of her parents’ window and fired several rounds into their room. Her father, Steve Alarcon, and mother Paula Alarcon, received gunshot wounds to the legs and required hospitalization. Lisa Alarcon was later arrested at her boyfriend’s residence.
At trial, Alarcon denied shooting her parents.
In testimony during the trial, Manuel Barbosa, a neighbor of Alarcon’s parents, said that he saw Lisa Alarcon arrive at her parents’ house with a gun and shot through their bedroom window several times, a story which he also said he told to 9-1-1 dispatchers. He further testified that he then witnessed her drive off in her car, which hit a street pole before she sped away.
Alarcon’s criminal defense attorneys countered that Alarcon had hit the pole with her car earlier that day, that her parents did not see who shot them, and that Barbosa’s testimony could not be trusted because of his prison record. Moreover, Alarcon’s attorneys said Barbosa could not clearly identify the shooter because street lights near her parents’ home were out.
Prosecutors will now have to decide if they will retry Alarcon for attempted murder.