By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Jury deadlock halts felony case against Stanford Gaza protesters as prosecutors plan retrial amid nationwide campus activism.

Key Developments

• Judge declares mistrial after jury unable to reach unanimous verdict.
• Prosecutor says case will be retried despite split jury votes.
• Students say the protest constituted political expression during the Gaza demonstrations.
• Case linked to broader wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests across US universities.
• Defendants previously faced prison terms and restitution exceeding $300,000.

Jury Deadlock Ends Trial

A California judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case of five current and former Stanford University students charged after a pro-Palestinian protest in 2024, when demonstrators barricaded themselves inside senior administrative offices on campus.

After five days of deliberations, jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict. The panel voted 9–3 in favor of a felony vandalism conviction and 8–4 in favor of a felony conspiracy to trespass conviction, but remained divided.

Judge Hanley Chew asked jurors whether additional deliberation would help break the impasse. Each juror answered no.

“It appears that this jury is hopelessly deadlocked, and I’m now declaring a mistrial in counts one and two,” the judge said before dismissing the panel.

The trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court lasted three weeks and was among the most serious criminal cases brought against student protesters during demonstrations opposing Israel’s war on Gaza.

Prosecutors alleged the students spray-painted the building, broke windows and furniture, disabled security cameras and splashed a red liquid described as fake blood across offices.

Defense attorneys argued the action was political protest and said prosecutors failed to prove intent to cause criminal damage. They also said demonstrators wore protective equipment and barricaded doors fearing injury during police intervention.

If convicted, the defendants could have faced up to three years in prison and restitution exceeding $300,000.

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Prosecutors Plan New Trial

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said his office intends to retry the case.

“This case is about a group of people who destroyed someone else’s property and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage,” Rosen said in a statement. “That is against the law and that is why we will retry the case.”

The five defendants showed little visible reaction in court as the mistrial was announced.

One of the students, Germán González, who had been a sophomore at Stanford at the time of his arrest, said after the hearing that prosecutors failed to secure a conviction despite institutional backing.

“The District Attorney’s Office had Stanford University supporting them and other multibillion-dollar institutions behind them, and even then the district attorney was unable to convict us,” González told The Associated Press by phone.

“No matter what happens, we will continue to fight tooth and nail for as long as possible, because at the end of the day, this is for Palestine.”

Initially, authorities arrested and charged 12 individuals. One pleaded no contest under a program allowing young defendants to have cases dismissed if they complete probation, and later testified for the prosecution before a grand jury indicted the remaining defendants.

Six others accepted plea agreements or diversion programs, while the remaining five pleaded not guilty and proceeded to jury trial.

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 Campus Protest Movement

The June 5, 2024 occupation took place on the final day of spring classes during a wave of demonstrations across US campuses opposing the war on Gaza and calling for divestment from companies linked to Israeli military activity.

Students established encampments and demanded universities cut financial ties with Israel or corporations connected to the war effort. Some institutions negotiated agreements with protesters, while others called police to dismantle demonstrations.

Approximately 3,200 people were arrested across the United States in 2024 during pro-Palestinian campus protests, according to figures cited in court coverage. Most criminal cases were later dismissed or resolved through diversion programs.

The Stanford prosecution was notable because it involved felony charges rather than minor offenses typically associated with campus protests.

Lawyers for the students said the case raised questions about the criminalization of political protest. Prosecutors maintained the charges concerned property damage rather than speech.

The mistrial leaves open the possibility of a new trial as authorities pursue the case again in court.

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Gaza Genocide

The campus protests took place amid Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000 others. Women and children account for a large share of the casualties, while thousands remain missing under the rubble.

Hospitals across the enclave have collapsed under bombardment and siege conditions, forcing surgeries without anesthesia and leaving many injured without treatment. UN agencies have reported the destruction of most housing units and the displacement of the overwhelming majority of the population.

Humanitarian organizations have also warned of starvation conditions due to restrictions on food, water and medical supplies, alongside outbreaks of disease linked to the breakdown of sanitation infrastructure.

(PC, Al-Mayadeen, QNN, US Media)