A mistrial was declared Thursday in the trial of a 32- year-old man charged with gunning down a bookie he worked with in a Huntington Beach parking lot when jurors deadlocked on a verdict.
Jurors were unanimous in finding the defendant not guilty of first-degree murder but were unable to agree on whether he should be convicted of a second-degree murder or a lesser charge
Dennis Tri Gia Dang worked as a middleman in the victim's sports betting operation. Gamblers he had vouched for had amassed a debt of about $60,000, which the victim held Dang responsible for, according to court testimony.
More than a dozen friends and relatives of the victim, Linh Ho of Fountain Valley, were present each day of trial, as were the parents of the defendant, Dennis Tri Gia Dang, 32, of Westminster.