LOS ANGELES : Jurors Deadlock on Death Sentence for Ex-Policeman

Jurors appeared deadlocked Friday over whether an ex-policeman convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1985 killings of a Brentwood couple should be sentenced to death.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper told the panelists to continue their work. Jury foreman Keith Woods told the judge he and his colleagues were stuck at 11 to 1. He did not say which way the jury was leaning.

Steven Homick, 52, was convicted last month of the Sept. 25, 1985, killings of Vera and Gerald Woodman. The same jury found his brother, Robert, guilty but deadlocked on whether Neil Woodman, 49, hired the Homicks to kill his parents.

Robert Homick, 42, is to be sentenced on June 14 to life in prison without possibility of parole. Prosecutors decided to pursue a death sentence for Steven Homick because they contend he was the triggerman.