GENTRY JURORS DEADLOCK; CHILD-STARVATION CASE AGAINST COUPLE ENDS IN MISTRIAL.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand and Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writers

A Superior Court judge declared a mistrial Thursday when jurors deadlocked and were unable to reach a verdict as to whether Michael and Kathleen Gentry starved to death their severely handicapped daughter.

After six days of deliberation, the jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of not guilty of murder, 7-5 in favor of not guilty of child abuse, and 9-3 in favor of not guilty of conspiracy, according to court officials.

A decision on whether to retry the Lake Los Angeles couple is expected next week.

Many residents of the northern Los Angeles County community rallied to the couple's defense after authorities accused them of abusing their 15-year-old daughter, Lindsay, who suffered from a condition called congenital myotonic dystrophy and died at age 15, weighing less than 50 pounds.

``I think they loved her and she died maybe from the disease but we won't know,'' juror Leissa Kalas, 36, of Santa Clarita, who voted not guilty on all charges, said outside court after the trial ended.

``Those of us that felt (the verdict should be) not guilty on everything thought there was just too much reasonable doubt. We're not saying innocent, but by the law, there was reasonable doubt.''

Juror E.J. Jaymeson, 37, of Sherman Oaks said he believes Lindsay's death was caused by a combination of illness and parents who ``just didn't care.''

``I think they were extremely negligent and by the definition of the charge they were guilty of manslaughter,'' Jaymeson said. ``They should have seen what was going on regardless of the fact that the hospital and doctor didn't catch it.''

Juror George Moreno, 52, of Encino said the Gentrys didn't do enough to make sure Lindsay ate.

``The abuse charge was about the hardest. We had to contend with the lack of food and why the parents didn't help put the food into her system,'' Moreno said.

Kalas disagreed. ``There was too much testimony from people who said (the Gentrys) said: Eat, eat eat. They even tried to buy her mineral supplements.''

Deliberations were heated for the first few days, with the jurors polarized, Kalas said. After the jurors emerged at midafternoon Thursday to declare they were deadlocked, Judge John Fisher sent them back in for a half-hour more but it changed nothing.

A District Attorney's Office spokeswoman said she expects prosecutors will make a decision whether to retry the couple before a pretrial conference set for Wednesday.

David Houchin, one of two attorneys for Kathleen Gentry, said his client was extremely upset that she would remain jailed and might have to undergo a second trial, after the first one lasted nearly seven weeks.

``She wants to go home, so she's not happy,'' said Lyle Middleton, her other attorney. ``Everything's heading in her direction but she wants to go home.''

The Gentrys have been in jail since their arrest at their Lake Los Angeles home July 23, 1998.

Michael Gentry's mother, Helen Darrow, said the couple is not guilty.

``They've taken eight months of their life away from them already,'' she said. ``What can you do? There's nothing we can do, just sit here and wait.''

Lindsay died Feb. 6, 1996, at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Fontana. Her death certificate listed pneumonia and marasmus - progressive emaciation caused by a lack of food - as causes.

Congenital myotonic dystrophy is characterized by the wasting away of muscles, formation of cataracts, premature baldness and, frequently, mental deficiency. Lindsay's mother suffers from a milder case of the condition.

Detectives said they did not suspect any wrongdoing until a person close to the family reported that the girl was mistreated, setting off a complex two-year investigation.

During the trial, prosecutors outlined what they called a pattern of abuse documented since Lindsay, at age 6, went to school with bruises on her buttocks and said her father had hit her with a belt.

But the prosecution case took a blow when Lindsay's older sister - now 25, married and living in Georgia - testified that she often misled social workers and other authorities investigating abuse allegations, trying to manipulate situations to get her way as a rebellious teen-ager.

The prosecution and defense each presented doctors as expert witnesses, who differed on what killed her and whether malnutrition was responsible.

In weighing the child-abuse charge, the jury was instructed to consider only injuries that occurred after July 1995. There was no evidence of abuse after that date and no signs of abuse were found in the autopsy, defense attorneys said.

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2 photos

PHOTO (1 -- 2) Kathleen, above, and Michael Gentry react to the deadlock.

John Lazar/Daily News