GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – The jury was excused to deliberate Friday in the retrial of a man accused of raping and murdering a veterinary technician in Orange Park in 2007.
The jury received instructions shortly before 12:30 p.m. after the state finished its closing arguments. Shortly before 7 p.m., the jury had not yet reached a verdict and will return to court Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
In January 2007, Andrea Boyer, 25, was found dead at the veterinary practice where she worked around 6:30 a.m. — soon after she usually opened the clinic. Investigators said she was raped and beaten to death.
Michael Renard Jackson was arrested and charged soon after the murder. Investigators said his DNA was found at the scene.
Jackson was originally convicted and sentenced to death in 2010. It took the jurors 13 years ago only 90 minutes to come back with a guilty verdict. But the Florida Supreme Court threw out the verdict after finding Clay County deputies made prejudicial comments on the stand.
He had been previously convicted of rape and burglary in the mid-1980s and sentenced to 30 years in prison. But he was released early and was not out for long before Boyer was killed.
This retrial has seen years of delays because of the pandemic and a fight over DNA evidence found on the suspected murder weapon, a fire extinguisher.
A jury was seated last week in the retrial, and testimony began Monday. On Wednesday, Jackson took the stand in his own defense, and he again denied killing Boyer. The prosecution brought up Jackson’s previous conviction in court Thursday. The survivor from that case testified privately.
The defense argues that the detectives in this case did not do a thorough investigation and only settled for the DNA that matched Jackson. That DNA is what the state relied on, saying it is the most powerful piece of evidence in the case.
“Police don’t care, didn’t care then. When the DNA match came back that was it for them,” said defense attorney Ann Finnell.
In court Friday, the defense questioned detectives’ actions, saying they did not do a full investigation of the scene or investigate who Boyer was.
“Bottom line here is AB had a double life. She was a stripper in a nude club. She’d seen it all. She went by a fake name of Haley. She used drugs, that we’re sure of,” Finnell said.
The defense argued the timeline of the assault would not allow Jackson to get to work on time. Also, the defense said, no evidence at the scene connects Jackson.
The state asked the jury to consider Jackson’s previous rape conviction.
“Just like it was when he raped his other victim. Cases are similar. He went to places where they felt safe. Moyers kennel was her second home. Only difference inthe two cases — H.E.’s case, he left a witness and fingerprint. In this case, he didn’t. He made sure of that,” said prosecutor Pam Hazel.
Jackson testified he and Boyer had consensual sex in a truck that wasn’t processed for evidence.
His defense said Boyer also tried to buy drugs from Jackson.
“Smoking weed has nothing to do with her credibility because she’s not here. Codine morphine, it has nothing to do with what he did to her,” said Assistant State Attorney Daniel Skinner.
The state said Jackson’s DNA was not found on her clothes but still on her person, even after he tried to destroy evidence.
On Friday afternoon, the jury asked eight questions. The jurors wanted to see photos from the scene, the autopsy, video of the detective interview with Jackson and transcripts from the interview. The judge told them that they had to go off what they remembered and that all the evidence pictures are back there with them.
If Jackson is convicted, prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.