Bryant Family Defendant’s Case Ends in Mistrial : Court: Accused of four counts of murder, Jon Settle hears jurors declare an 11-1 deadlock. He served as his own attorney.

A 35-year-old admitted drug dealer, who acted as his own lawyer during the Bryant Family quadruple murder case, won a mistrial Wednesday--apparently after convincing a single juror of his innocence.

Jon Preston Settle, accused of four counts of first-degree murder and a single count of attempted murder, told the jury during closing arguments, “I’m not going to argue the law because I’m no good in that area.”

But he’s not arguing with the results.

By winning a mistrial, Settle wins the right to a new trial in which he will be judged separately from the others.

He also outperformed three prosecutors as well as a half-dozen seasoned criminal defense attorneys representing his co-defendants, who are facing the death penalty.

When the complex Bryant Family quadruple murder case began four months ago in Downtown Los Angeles, most of those involved thought Settle was making a fatal mistake by representing himself.

Attorney Carl Jones, who represents defendant Stanley Bryant, even claimed during pretrial motions that Settle was emotionally unstable.

But Settle displayed an earnest courtroom manner, even joining other lawyers during sidebar conferences.

His dual role offered him the best of both worlds. In the role of attorney, he claimed the evidence implicated the others. As a witness, he denied he was even there when the shootings occurred.

And as his own lawyer, Settle had the opportunity to address the jury personally, telling the panelists, “I wouldn’t ever participate in this type of crime . . . I didn’t shoot any of these people. I am innocent, and that’s just the way things are.”

There was no immediate comment from the nine lawyers involved in the mammoth case that grew out of four 1988 slayings at a Lake View Terrace crack house. The judge has ordered the attorneys not to talk.

But nearly a month of deliberations revealed that the jury seemed to have few problems deciding the guilt of the other three defendants--Stan Bryant, 37; LeRoy Wheeler, 26, and Donald Franklin Smith, 37. They were convicted last week of committing multiple murders and face hearings next week to determine whether they should be executed for the Aug. 28, 1988, shooting deaths of a woman, a toddler and two drug-dealing rivals.

By Memorial Day, the jury had found Bryant, Wheeler and Smith guilty of first-degree murder in the slayings of former Bryant Family hit man Andre Armstrong, 31, and his partner, James Brown, 43. The two men were trapped inside a cage-like metal security door and fired upon repeatedly by assailants armed with shotguns and semi-automatic pistols.

Bryant and Wheeler also were convicted of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of Loretha Anderson, 23, and her daughter, Chemise English, 2, and the attempted murder of Carlos English, 1. Smith was convicted of second-degree murder in those slayings, apparently after the jury found he did not premeditate those killings.

But the jury’s deliberations had snagged since June 2 on Settle. The split was 11 to 1, according to a note last week from a frustrated juror. The lone holdout, the juror’s note stated, had misgivings about returning a verdict that could “send Jon Settle to the gas chamber.”

Monday, jurors informed Judge Charles Horan they were still deadlocked 11 to 1. Wednesday, the jury sent Horan another note:

“We, the jury, have come again to an impasse in the decisions as to Jon Settle. It seems we cannot come to a unanimous decision . . . “

Shortly before 5 p.m., after polling the jury and conducting closed-door juror interviews, Horan declared the panel hopelessly deadlocked.

Settle will return to court June 28 to set a date for his next trial. Meanwhile, his co-defendants will be battling to stay off Death Row.

In the end, Settle will get what he has wanted since last year--a new trial in which he will be judged separately from the others.

In November, Settle decided to serve as his own attorney and sought a separate trial, claiming that his defense strategy would “necessarily show that [the other defendants] are killers, conflicting with their claims of innocence.”

Initially, Settle declined to testify. Then, after Bryant and Wheeler testified, he changed his mind. He claimed he was a victim of mistaken identity. And in his closing arguments, he stated that Bryant masterminded the killings, Smith was present and Wheeler was “responsible” for shooting the woman and child.