Copyright The Oregonian
After deliberations that stretched over three days, jurors in the case of a man accused of fatally shooting his brother last year at the family’s popular recreational venue in Washington County told the judge Wednesday morning they were deadlocked. On Monday, the jury signalled it had reached an impasse in the trial of Robert Horning, 65, who is accused of shooting his brother, Carl Horning, 47, on Jan. 2, 2024. Horning claimed he fired in self-defense and said his brother was advancing toward him with an empty Kirkland-brand wine bottle. On Monday afternoon, the jury of five men and seven women sent two separate hand-written notes to Circuit Judge Janelle Wipper stating jurors had entrenched positions and asking for guidance. Wipper told them to continue their deliberations that day. The court was then closed Tuesday for Veterans Day. Jurors returned at 9 a.m. Wednesday and within about 15 minutes notified the judge that their positions had not changed. Washington County Senior Deputy District Attorney Allison Brown asked Wipper to direct the jury to continue. Horning’s lawyer, Bracken McKey, said the jury had clearly communicated they could not reach a verdict. “It would be coercive to ask people who have expressed in writing that they’re unwilling to move off of their positions,” he said. Wipper brought the jury into the courtroom and asked the woman who served as foreperson to confirm that additional time would not shift their deliberations. The woman agreed and other members of the jury nodded along. Wipper declared a mistrial and dismissed the jury. Brown confirmed the state will retry the case. Deadlocked juries are not common. The state has seen 85 hung juries on felony trials since 2017, according to the Oregon Judicial Department. The development caps a two-week trial where prosecutors alleged Horning killed his younger brother amid a long-simmering feud over money and control of the family business, Horning’s Hideout, a recreational and event venue off U.S. 26 near North Plains. Horning was charged with second-degree murder, a crime that carries a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Family members and friends, whose loyalties were split between the defendant and the victim, filled the seats in the small courtroom during the trial. The trial exposed acrimony between the brothers over the ownership of the venue. Robert Horning is the oldest of six siblings; Carl Horning was the youngest, along with a twin brother. The Horning family’s ties to the property date to the late 1950s, according to Horning’s Hideout website. Over the years, the family expanded its use, turning it into a wedding and concert venue and eventually adding a disc golf course. The property covers about 160 acres, the website says. Robert Horning argued he shot his brother, who he said came for him holding a wine bottle near a barn on the property where both men lived. Horning said his brother did not utter a word. Horning’s defense lawyers portrayed Carl Horning, a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue firefighter, as volatile, erratic and prone to violent outbursts. “Bob Horning knew that his brother was capable of flying into a rage very quickly,” one of Horning’s defense lawyers, McKey, told jurors in his closing argument Friday. McKey described Robert Horning as a doting son to the Hornings’ mother, Jane, who approved of Robert Horning’s majority control over the business. “Jane Horning was in Bob’s camp,” McKey said as she sat in the gallery behind her son’s defense table. The relationship between Robert Horning and his brother soured in recent years over the finances and ownership structure of Horning’s Hideout — Robert Horning owned a majority stake, prosecutors said. The two became estranged amid a legal battle. The brothers also sparred over whether their mother was mentally capable of making sound decisions. Carl Horning hired an attorney to help access financial records and one month before he was killed, the lawyer obtained a subpoena for the documents. But the records didn’t materialize, prompting the lawyer to seek a court order requiring Robert Horning to produce them, prosecutor said. Brown alleged Horning planned to shoot his brother that morning and he did not anticipate Carl’s wife, Kelli Horning, 42, would be home. “He thought he had all the time in the world,” Brown said. She said the family’s own surveillance camera showed a calm Carl Horning walking toward the area where he encountered his brother. Brown said Horning had just gotten off a long shift and had run errands with his wife. The couple pulled up to the house with groceries and Horning brought the recycling to the barn area. “He’s not angry, all hopped up, ready to go kill somebody,” she said. “He’s exhausted.” Brown told jurors that Robert Horning was prepared for the encounter, laying in wait for his brother and then staging the scene to make it appear he acted in self-defense. “He had all the advantage in the situation,” she said. “He’s the one who had a gun. He’s the one who had a weapon.” “Why would Carl grab a wine bottle randomly when he drops off the bin?” Brown said. She said he still held a bag of trash and questioned why he would grab a wine bottle. “It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever and that is an absolutely massive problem for the defendant,” she said. “There’s no reason for him to have ever grabbed a wine bottle and again, why would he pick this moment to go after his brother?” she said. Horning has been in the Washington County Jail while his case was pending. He wore a dark suit jacket and tie to court. Each day, deputies removed shackles from his waist and wrists before the jury entered the courtroom. Once the judge dismissed the jury on Wednesday, Washington County deputies placed the restraints back onto him and returned him to jail. The judge set a status hearing for Nov. 21.
