Posted on 11/04/2006 1:34:06 PM PST by calcowgirl
LOS ANGELES – A mistrial was declared yesterday in the theft and fraud trial of a Swedish businessman who drew unwanted international attention to himself when he wrecked a rare $1.5 million Ferrari on a seaside highway in Malibu.
After deliberating the case against Bo Stefan Eriksson, 44, for a little more than a day, jurors told Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg that they were deadlocked 10-2 in favor of conviction, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors quickly announced they would retry Eriksson, who remained in custody. A pretrial hearing is set for Dec. 7.
Prosecutors were heartened that an overwhelming majority sided with them. Eriksson's lawyer, James Parkman, said he was told his client was in “high spirits.”
“I want to go again,” said Parkman, an Alabama-based lawyer who successfully defended former HealthSouth executive Richard Scrushy on securities fraud charges.
Eriksson mortified car enthusiasts and sparked a host of investigations on Feb. 21 when he ran a red Ferrari Enzo into a Pacific Coast Highway utility pole. Sheriff's deputies estimated he was traveling as fast as 162 mph. He split the car in half, but suffered only a bloody lip.
There were only 400 such Ferraris made, and Eriksson had two of them – the other was black. Prosecutors contend that Eriksson stole the black Ferrari as well as a Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren and tried to hide them through seemingly legitimate business deals.
Deputy District Attorney Tamara Hall told jurors that Eriksson pretended to sell the cars to employees of his now-bankrupt video game company, Gizmondo, so they could be shipped from Europe to the United States under the employees' names. He then took the cars back, claiming the sales fell through.
The case has sparked much more controversy than was discussed in court. First, Eriksson reportedly told deputies that a man named Dietrich was actually behind the wheel and ran from the scene. Eriksson later admitted to being the driver.
The stew thickened when two men who said they were with “homeland security” showed up at the crash scene demanding to talk with Eriksson. They actually worked for a small suburban bus company. In May, officials raided the company's offices in Arcadia, seizing guns, badges and police jackets. The investigation is continuing, Robison said.
Later authorities learned that Eriksson was allegedly linked to organized crime in Sweden and had convictions for assault, drug offenses and fraud there.
Eriksson has a trial set to start Monday on a charge of being a felon in possession of a gun. Investigators said they found a .357 Magnum handgun when they searched his $6 million Bel-Air home in March.
I guess we'll have to wait for the sequel.
Earlier stories:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=stefaneriksson
The fact that he wrecked a priceless car is irrelevant. He had an EVIL HANDGUN in his home in California!
Hang him. (Please see my tagline for further insight into this post.)
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