Someone involved in the case where a jury that convicted and sentenced Comfort resident Jose Jimenez raised an unclear concern that led to a special court session Wednesday afternoon.
A special hearing was set for both Kendall County Assistant District Attorney Nick Socias and defense attorney Louis Martinez, who debated the Jimenez case last week. But the reason remained a mystery until 451st District Court Judge Kirsten Cohoon entered the courtroom.
Cohoon notified both the state and defense the jury may have been aware of Jimenez’s undocumented immigrant status during its deliberation, and this information may have influenced jurors’ decision.
The announcement appeared to be confusing to many court attendees as Jimenez’s immigration status was revealed during the trial and reiterated by Martinez.
This wasn’t the first action by the jury that convicted Jimenez of a reduced second-degree felony charge of indecency with a child that was uncommon to the Kendall County court.
The jurors set records in the court last week when it took almost 12 hours of deliberation to decide on the lesser included charge when Jimenez was facing 25 years to life in state prison for continuous sexual abuse after three victims testified, court documentation showed. Typically, a long deliberation in the 451st Court can last a few hours, but the courthouse remained open until 9:30 p.m. waiting for a jury decision.
It then took about six hours of deliberation for the jurors to hand down a 17-year prison sentence to Jimenez, making it one of the longest sentencing deliberations in the state district court.
It remains unclear why the announcement warranted a special hearing, and no information was available. It also is unclear how or if this revelation will impact the conviction or sentencing handed down last week.
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