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A jury couldn't decide this month whether or not Officer Derek Carlile should be convicted in his daughter's shooting death. Now the Snohomish Prosecutor's Office says it will not re-file charges. (AP Photo)

No retrial for Marysville cop whose son shot sister

BY Tim Haeck  on November 28, 2012 @ 11:08 am (Updated: 2:50 pm - 11/28/12 )

The Marysville police officer whose 3-year-old son shot and killed his older sister, will not face a second trial for his role in the death.

"What we have to do, and I think we're really good at it, is make sure our decisions are based just on the facts and the law, and not on (emotions) or the occupation of participants," Snohomish County Prosecutor Mark Roe tells The Dori Monson Show.

Earlier this month, a jury deadlocked 7-4 in favor of acquittal in the case against Derek Carlile.

Snohomish County chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney Joan Cavagnaro says her office reviewed the evidence, and talked to investigators and to jurors.

"All of that was done in this case and we concluded that it was very unlikely that a retrial would result in a different outcome."

"In any decision in whether to retry a case or not, certainly the jury split is one of the factors you take into consideration," says Roe.

The prosecutor's office filed an order dismissing the charge of manslaughter in the second degree against Carlile.

The boy shot his 7-year-old sister with their father's gun when officer Carlile got out of the van to run an errand. Defense attorney David Allen says the case should not have gone to trial.

"People make mistakes, accidents do happen, parents lose kids, it's a tragedy, but it's not always a crime."

Allen says Carlile accepts responsibility for what happened.

Carlile has been an officer in Marysville for about three years.

Allen says officer Carlile and his wife have heavy hearts over the death of their daughter and are thankful the case is over.

Tim Haeck, KIRO Radio Reporter
Tim Haeck is a news reporter with KIRO Radio. While Tim is one of our go-to, no-nonsense reporters, he also has a sensationally dry sense of humor and it will surprise some to learn he is a weekend warrior.
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Comments (23)


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  • otherpointofview wrote...
    no surprise here
    November 28, 2012 10:42 am
    of course there's no retrial.. he's a police officer. i wonder what kind of precedence this sets for all future "accidental/negligent discharge" cases..?
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  • jstumbo wrote...
    With the results of the first trial...
    November 28, 2012 11:18 am
    I can see that they would not retry. If they were going to give the same evidence, and the jury was already leaning not guilty, then really no need to waste tax payer money having another trial. While accidents do happen, while people do lose children, this is more than that. If I was driving 100 mph in a 35mph zone and missed a turn, rolled my car, and killed my child, would they just be saying that "accidents happen"? Or would they say that my negligence caused the death of my child?
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  • jstumbo wrote...
    With the results of the first trial...
    November 28, 2012 11:19 am
    I can see that they would not retry. If they were going to give the same evidence, and the jury was already leaning not guilty, then really no need to waste tax payer money having another trial. While accidents do happen, while people do lose children, this is more than that. If I was driving 100 mph in a 35mph zone and missed a turn, rolled my car, and killed my child, would they just be saying that "accidents happen"? Or would they say that my negligence caused the death of my child?
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  • xplanes wrote...
    Haters
    November 28, 2012 11:38 am
    No Justice huh? Living with the fact that you were responsible for your daughter's death is nothing huh? A majority of his peers voted for acquittal after a fair trial. What more do you want? A lynching. Talk about injustice, how about people who walk with time served or early release of sex offenders who were actually found guilty to begin with. Your idea of justice is a bit twisted by your hatred of LEOs.
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  • otherpointofview wrote...
    justice
    November 28, 2012 1:33 pm
    i don't think lynching anyone in this case is a good idea but what i think is that the couple in tacoma was found guilty of virtually the same crime/accident when their 3 year old boy found a loaded gun in the car and shot himself. unfortunate accident and very negligent by the parents to leave a loaded gun in the car with a child. so why does the police officer get a pass but not the other couple? i think that's the kind of lack of justice that AJ is talking about. the same could be said for the parents of the boy that took a loaded gun to school and accidently shot the girl in Bremerton. the boy and the parents get charged (not sure about the outcome of that trial though). It all seems like a tragic accident to me...
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  • calapete wrote...
    I'm extremely dissappointed in the jury
    November 28, 2012 12:09 pm
    the defense was easy, just cry and cry he did.

    Emotion trumped law and Jenna Carlile gets no justice.

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  • xplanes wrote...
    Defend my comments?
    November 28, 2012 12:20 pm
    Sure. Jury trial. All play by the same rules. Jury wasn't close to conviction this time and prolly wouldn't be next time. That's it. My comment was about you not accepting a jury verdict. Yeah, they could retry him, but that isn't automatic. Jury's aren't perfect but they aren't "the man" changing the rules for us common folk. I didn't defend him. I defended a jury VS a mob which you seem happy to represent.
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  • Sam Sasquatch wrote...
    REALLY AJ??
    November 28, 2012 12:33 pm
    Having him lynched? Thats really going to make a difference.
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  • heartshapedrock wrote...
    Anybody know..
    November 28, 2012 2:37 pm
    ... what was the outcome of this case that happened around the same time? http://mynorthwest.com/11/644669/3yearold-kills-self-with-gun-in-car-at-Tacoma-gas-station
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  • AIG wrote...
    Anybody know..
    November 28, 2012 3:25 pm
    Here are a few more details. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/toddler-shot-himself-tacoma-jahnisha-mcintosh_n_1386029.html
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  • AIG wrote...
    Officer Carlile
    November 28, 2012 3:21 pm
    This man will live with consequences of his actions for the rest of his days. In my mind, there couldn't be a worse punishment. R.I.P. Jenna Carlile
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  • otherpointofview wrote...
    true true
    November 28, 2012 3:33 pm
    that's very true..being a father myself it would kill me inside. if that's punishment enough then that should hold true for all the other similar cases like the boy that shot himself in Tacoma due to his mother/boyfriends negligence..i'm sure she's suffering as well...and now has to do it in jail on top of it.
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  • CH wrote...
    will this work for his next kid?
    November 28, 2012 3:32 pm
    sure glad dad is not a kop. Who ever dad is.
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