Jury can't reach verdict in fatal Atlantic City pedestrian crash

Jurors were unable to agree on whether a man who fatally struck an Atlantic City pedestrian and then left the scene did so knowingly. 

The jury told Superior Court Judge Christine Smith that they were unable to reach a verdict in the trial of Harris Jacobs on Tuesday. 

There is no question Jacobs knew he struck a pedestrian in the predawn hours of Sept. 4, 2022. 

It was what happened within the next two minutes that made his defense against a criminal charge of leaving the scene of a crash that resulted in a death. 

Surveillance video shows the Atlantic City man pull into the Dunkin Donuts at Atlantic and Indiana avenues, rushing to the injured man and even bending down, possibly touching him.

Orlando Fraga, 76, died at the scene.

Police would investigate for seven hours before tracking Jacobs down and making an arrest.

In that time, Jacobs told his cousin and roommate, Peyton Caldwell, what had happened. 

He also spoke with his father, attorney Joe Jacobs, 10 times, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Seth Levy told the jurors. 

The one thing he did not do was call police. 

It was the trauma response of a man suffering from acute stress disorder, defense attorney Lou Barbone told the jury during his closing argument last week.

Dr. Gary Glass, a longtime forensic psychiatrist, testified about Jacobs' mental issues, in an effort to prove the defendant did not "knowingly" leave the scene, a requirement to find him guilty of second-degree leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.

The jury asked to listen to Glass' testimony again during deliberations. They also heard Caldwell's testimony. 

In the end, they could not reach a verdict. 

    Jacobs talked to his father, Joe Jacobs, 10 times after the crash, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Seth Levy said.
  

Barbone called the outcome of the trial "stunning proof that our system of justice is alive and well."

Jacobs was emotional through much of the openings and closings, wiping away tears several times.

    Harris Jacobs wiped tears away often during both openings and closings in the trial.
  

The crash happened in an area that was under construction, with no sidewalk and the normally two-lane road cut to one with no shoulder.

Fraga was walking in the street as a result.

A NJ Transit bus is seen going around him in video shown to the jury. 

Jacobs did not have the view a bus does, Barbone said.

But there had been no other fatal crashes in that area in the three months the construction area was there, Levy would counter.

Jurors had the option of finding Jacobs guilty of a lesser third-degree crime for leaving the scene. 

There remains a motor vehicle citation for leaving the scene, which does not require that he did it knowingly.