NORTHAMPTON — Jurors in the third Cara Rintala murder trial will enter their fourth full day of deliberations Friday morning.
Rintala stands accused of strangling her wife, Annamarie Cochrane Rintala, March 29, 2010 in the couple’s Granby home. Cochrane Rintala, who was found bloodied and covered in paint at the bottom of the basement stairs in the couple’s Granby home. Rintala has maintained her innocence since she was indicted in October 2011.
She was tried twice, in 2013 and 2014, but each of those trials ended with deadlocked juries. Hampshire Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup declared a mistrial in both instances. In this third trial, the 12 jurors — five women and seven men — have deliberated for about 20 hours as of the end of the day Thursday.
During jury instructions in court Monday, Rup also informed jurors they would be allowed — for the first time in this case — to consider the charge of voluntary manslaughter.
If convicted, Rintala would face up to 20 years in state prison, whereas first- and second-degree murder both carry mandatory life sentences. A key sentencing distinction between first- and second-degree murder, however, is that Rintala could be eligible for parole eventually if the jury decides to convict her of murder in the second degree. There is no possibility for parole with a first-degree murder conviction.
Leading to the mistrials being declared in 2013 and 2014, jurors deliberated for four and five days, respectively.
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.