Mistrial in Athlete Murder Case

A mistrial was declared today in the Kenneth Solomon murder case after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury reported to Judge Paul Turner that it was deadlocked.

Solomon, 28, was charged in the 1982 slaying of Princeton University basketball player Lawrence Raphael during an attempted robbery in the driveway of his girlfriend’s Hancock Park home. Jurors said afterward that three jury members voted for acquittal because they believed Solomon’s trial testimony that a taped confession which was played in court had been faked by authorities. Solomon, accused of having driven the getaway car in the shooting, will be retried beginning June 24.