HOUSTON, TX -A jury found Shriya Patel not guilty of capital murder Mar. 10, though they did find her guilty of arson causing death, which is punishable between 5-99 years in prison. The punishment phase gets under way later. The verdict came one hour after an alternate juror was inserted into the jury room; the absent juror had not shown up for deliberations on Monday morning, despite the court’s efforts to contact that person.
On March 3 morning, the jury foreperson told the judge one of the jury members was “drastically inappropriate” during deliberations Mar. 7. That juror did not show up Monday morning to resume deliberations, and officials called in an alternate juror to take over.
The original jury deliberated for nearly eight hours on March 7 without any success reaching a verdict, sent home without being sequestered due to the lack of hotels in the downtown area because of the influx of people in for South by Southwest.
Shriya Patel is facing five to 99 years in prison for first-degree arson in the April 2012 incident that killed her Indian American husband, 29-year-old Bimal Patel. Prosecutors said 27-year-old Shriya Patel was unhappy with her arranged marriage and lured her husband into the bathtub, where she doused him with gasoline and set him afire. Bimal Patel died nearly four months later in a hospital. Defense Attorney Jackie Wood told jurors Bimal Patel wanted to kill himself and forced his wife to help.
The original jury deliberated for nearly eight hours on March 7 without any success reaching a verdict, sent home without being sequestered due to the lack of hotels in the downtown area because of the influx of people in for South by Southwest.
Shriya Patel is facing five to 99 years in prison for first-degree arson in the April 2012 incident that killed her Indian American husband, 29-year-old Bimal Patel. Prosecutors said 27-year-old Shriya Patel was unhappy with her arranged marriage and lured her husband into the bathtub, where she doused him with gasoline and set him afire. Bimal Patel died nearly four months later in a hospital. Defense Attorney Jackie Wood told jurors Bimal Patel wanted to kill himself and forced his wife to help.
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