Just before lunch today, the jury in the Michael Allan Lamb murder case announced itself "hopelessly deadlocked" on whether the Public Enemy Number One (PENI) Death Squad member deserved the death penalty.

The vote was nearly tied after almost three days of deliberating. Six jurors wanted death; five wanted life in prison without the possibility of parole; and one person remained undecided.

Lamb kept silent, but studied his fingernails after the decision. Throughout the three-month proceeding, the 33-year-old hit man always appeared nonchalant. He was lighthearted even when the same jury convicted him on July 10 of the murder of a fellow gang member and the attempted murder of an Anaheim police officer. But when deputies hauled him back to jail, he turned to his mother in the audience and contorted his face into a huge smile. Cathy Lamb, portrayed by her son's defense as a longtime alcoholic who drank hairspray when she couldn't afford cheap booze, nodded happily.

Before jurors were excused, Orange County Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg asked the foreman if there was "anything" the court could provide that might help the panel "resolve" its deadlock. The foreman, a middle-aged man, quickly replied, "No, sir."

Froeberg then questioned individual jurors if they agreed with the foreman, and there was one surprise. It sounded like Juror No. 3--a Latina who looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties--softly volunteered that she didn't believe in the death penalty. She was one of four jurors who quickly left the courtroom unwilling to answer any questions.

It's likely that Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh, the veteran prosecutor on the case, will retry the penalty phase with a new jury after an Aug. 21 hearing. Baytieh believes Lamb will kill or seriously injury other inmates or guards with a life sentence. He wants to send him
to California's notorious death row at San Quentin State Prison. Until a decision is made, Lamb will continue to reside in the relative comfort of the OC Jail.

PENI's white supremacist gang members haven't had much luck avoiding law enforcement in recent years. That's no surprise. Many--if not most--are addicted to heroin, methamphetamines and Hilter, according to OC gang cops. The combination makes for bad teeth, worse manners, awesome tattoos but less than graceful social skills.

Jacob Anthony Rump--Lamb's pal in the murder and attempted murder case--is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 31. Like many Orange County judges, Froeberg is not known for dishing out light punishments. Rump, 31, faces a possible life in prison without the possibility of parole.

For previous coverage of the case, see "White Power With a Lisp."

Comic-Cons are a bit like film festivals -- most people there just want to go to the big-name stuff, but you really get more out of the experience if you mix it up a little. So rather than see Kevin Smith tell his stories about Jon Peters for the umpteenth time, it seemed a better use of the moment to go watch Ray Harryhausen do a live commentary while screening the new DVD of his 1957 movie 20 Million Miles to Earth. (It bows on Blu-Ray Dec. 4.)

Harryhausen is, of course, a living legend of cinema and arguably the most important special-effects man ever. Worked with King Kong animator Willis O'Brien, and in the pre-CGI era did every amazing movie monster there was, from the skeleton warriors in Jason and the Argonauts to Medusa and the Kraken in Clash of the Titans.

He got a standing ovation when his chair was wheeled into the room. But the room was only 1/3 full.

It may go without saying, but the announcement of a film entitled The Strangers that stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman wasn't exactly super-exciting. Especially when writer-director Brian Bertino comes in and he looks about 17.

But ever so slowly, the presentation started to warm this cynic's heart. The premise of the movie is that a young couple are terrorized in their home by masked assailants for no apparent reason. In theory, this seems like a good way to tap into fears about the randomness of terrorism without actually getting political.

The first clip shown involved Liv being terrorized. Fine and good, and the cartoon-little-girl masks the attackers wear are appropriately creepy, but the trailer tries to milk scares from a record player needle becoming stuck.

Riddle me this: How many couples Liv and Scott's age do you know, in 2007, who play records?

• Gore guilty: Al Gore III pleaded guilty Monday to possessing marijuana and other drugs when he was caught speeding in OC earlier in the month, reports the LA Times.
• This shooter's a giver: "Machine-gun Sonny" has mastered a shooting game at the OC Fair and wins mountain bikes nightly. But he doesn't keep his winnings, instead giving 'em to unsuspecting kids. The fair officials don't mind being cleaned-out, reports the Reg.
• See you in court, sea lion stabber: On Sept. 10, the Garden Grove man who allegedly stabbed a sea lion in Newport Beach will face a judge.
• Wacky headline: "Child, Chihuahua Witness Bust," reads a top item in today's Long Beach Press Telegram. The story's about one granny gone bad.
• Enough Geekdom! Fishbowl LA tells the Los Angeles Times and OC Weekly to 'roll up your Superman sleeping bags and get on the bus' now that Comic-Con is over. OK, fine. But after this last...post...

Well that sucks. Los Angeles Times pop culture reporter Geoff Bouche was covering the con when he got jumped on a sidewalk in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. He writes:

"In the 15 years I have been writing for The Times, I have covered wildfires, riots, gang murders and plenty of other mayhem. I never got hurt. This weekend I covered a comic book convention in San Diego and I'm going home with staples in my head."

Yipes! Read the rest here.

Via LA Observed.

Weekly investigative reporter extraordinaire Scott Moxley just informed me that our fab Comic-Con blogger - LYT - made today's edition of USA Today.

His rainbow 'do is apparently a camera magnet. That's not too surprising. Couldn't help snapping a few of him myself. And Luke was sitting at Hall H for hours on end...an easy target.

Photo via USA Today.

The article's titled "It's Good to be a Geek at Comic-Con."

Rebelscum has a good image of it right HERE

Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick kick things off by announcing a special screening of some early footage from Coraline, their new stop-motion collaboration. It'll be later in the evening at a nearby theater, and passes can be had at the Rogue booth. Those sitting in Hall H all day at the actual panels are out of luck. They couldn't have just shown us a little bit here? Nahh, make us wait in line all over again for something else.

Tidbits: the voice cast includes Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Teri Hatcher, Ian McShane; plot involves "people with button eyes who want to eat other people's souls."

Balls of Fury had a funny presentation last year, and since the movie still hasn't opened, Ben Garant (director) and Thomas Lennon (cowriter/costar) are back, along with the lead actor Dan Fogler (character name: Randy Daytona), who has that Jack Black vibe, but probably comes cheaper to the studio than Jack Black.

..cles of Narnia!

Director Andrew Adamson is live via satellite from the set in Prague, alongside Ben Barnes, who plays the title character of the new Narnia movie Prince Caspian (and also appears in the upcoming Stardust. Barnes has the Episode III Anakin hair going.

Adamson says Caspian was a more difficult adaptation than The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (which, for my writing sanity, will hereafter be referred to simply as Lion). The structure of Lewis' narrative isn't as cinematic -- Adamson has fleshed out Caspian's past more, showing his battles in detail.

Kevin Feige. That's the Marvel president's name I couldn't get right earlier. In my own defense, how many people do you know named "Feige"?

Kevin, Avi Arad, producer Gale Anne Hurd, director Louis Leterrier, Liv Tyler, and Edward Norton were the panelists for the new Hulk movie, named, like the TV show, The Incredible Hulk. That's no coincidence -- the TV show will apparently be a bigger influence this time. And it isn't a sequel to the Ang Lee movie starring Eric Bana. Edward Norton is the new Bruce Banner...and the screenwriter too! (Rumors have long been that Norton essentially does heavy rewrites on most of his movies anyway; might as well make it official and just let him do it from square one.)

Liv Tyler had been onstage two panels ago (for The Strangers -- more on that in an upcoming post), but managed to change costumes in between.

Gale Anne Hurd, suggesting this movie will be more to fans' liking: "He's not going to be three different sizes in this movie." If she thought she was gonna get a big pop from the crowd, she was way wrong. Not sure why size-changing is a problem, actually -- Hulk changes size in the comics.