FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A burglary defendant who won his freedom because of a jury's mistake lost his life a few hours later when he was stabbed to death in a fight. 
 
 In this 2007 photo released by the Fresno County Superior Court shows Judge W. Kent Hamlin. Police in Central California say a man who was released from jail after a jury mistakenly signed a not-guilty... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this June 14, 2012 photo shows Fresno County Superior Court Judge W. Kent Hamlin in his courtroom. Police in Central California say a man who was released from jail after a jury mistakenly signed a... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this undated photo released by the Fresno Police Dept. shows Bobby Lee Pearson. Pearson, a defendant in a Central California burglary case, walked out of a courtroom a free man after a jury mistakenly... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police rope off the scene where burglary defendant Bobby Lee Pearson was stabbed to death after walking out of a courtroom following a jury's mistake Thursday, June 12, 2014 in Fresno, Calif. Pearson... (Associated Press) 
 
 The jury in the trial of Bobby Lee Pearson, 37, mistakenly signed a not-guilty form Wednesday, and the flabbergasted judge said he had no choice but to order him to be released from jail because the verdict had already been put on the record. 
 
 It was too late when the judge learned that the jury was unable to reach a verdict, stalling on an 8-4 vote in favor of guilt. Prosecutors might have had an opportunity to retry Pearson, but by then changing the verdict form would have exposed Pearson to double jeopardy. 
 
 "I can't believe it," said Superior Court Judge W. Kent Hamlin after setting Pearson free, according to The Fresno Bee. 
 
 After being released from jail, Pearson went home to get some clothing and belongings when Fresno police Sgt. James Rios said Pearson apparently got into a fight with his sister's boyfriend. 
 
 The two had a long history of problems, said Rios, adding that the boyfriend stabbed and killed Pearson, who was found dead at the scene. The boyfriend's name has not been released. 
 
 William Terrence, who prosecuted the case, told The Associated Press that despite the bizarre chain of events that led to Pearson's release, the man he tried sending to prison didn't deserve to die that way. 
 
 "There's not a death penalty on a burglary," Terrence said. "I'm not sitting here thinking he got what he deserved." 
 
 Terrence said he is still trying to understand the jury's confusion. He said he explained the verdict forms in closing arguments as he has done many times, and so did the judge. 
 
 "Apparently, the message wasn't quite received," Terrence said. 
 
 In the case of a deadlock, jurors should have sent a note to the judge. 
 
 Pearson and two co-defendants were accused of burglarizing an apartment last year and stealing a video system and a gun. The homeowner allegedly caught the intruders and wrestled with one of them. 
 
 Jurors returned a guilty verdict against Pearson's co-defendant, Terrel Minnieweather and the mistaken not-guilty verdict against Pearson before lunch Wednesday. 
 
 Terrence said Hamlin polled each juror individually to verify Minnieweather's guilty verdict. Turning to Pearson's case, the judge asked the jurors as a group if that was its not-guilty verdict in Pearson's case. 
 
 "No one stood up and said, 'Hey, wait a minute. That's not my verdict,'" Terrence said. "They nodded along." 
 
 Terrence said that it wasn't a mistake to poll the jury as a group. The evidence against Pearson wasn't as strong, and Terrence said he respected the jury's apparent not-guilty decision. 
 
 The jurors were then asked to return after lunch for a potential second phase of the trial. The confusion over the verdict came to light during lunch, when one juror told court staff that he had voted to find Pearson guilty. 
 
 Jurors said they were confused by the forms, one of which was for a guilty verdict and the other for a not guilty verdict. One juror said there was no form they could sign that indicated the jury was deadlocked. 
 
 "It is bizarre," said Eugene Hyman, who retired from the Santa Clara County Superior Court after serving for 20 years on the bench. "But I can't find fault with anyone." 
 
 Hyman, who had no involvement in Pearson's case, said during trials, he would always ask each juror whether the verdict read by the clerk was indeed their verdict. He said there's nothing wrong with polling jurors en masse. 
 
 Hyman said the Fresno judge had no choice to acquit Pearson if Hamlin ordered the not guilty verdict "recorded" immediately after the jurors nodded in agreement with the verdict. 
 
 Judges are required to poll jurors after every verdict is read in criminal cases, Hyman said, but that requirement can be waived by lawyers. ||||| Former coworkers told Action News the suspected killer, Willie Gray worked at the Big Fresno Fair as a landscaper. They remember him as a hard worker. "I couldn't believe it. It was just pure shock. I just would have never believed it," said Stacy Rianda.ABC30 legal analyst, Tony Capozzi believes there's a strong case Gray acted to protect himself. "Unless someone is watching this. Unless there are some witnesses to say otherwise he may have a really good defense as self-defense," said Capozzi.But he added his attorney will have a tough time at trial. "The fact that he left the scene is the indication of consciousness of guilt. You think you did something wrong so you run away. That's allowed to come into evidence in a trial."The bizarre chain of events started on Wednesday when a jury found 37-year-old Bobby Pearson not guilty in a burglary case . It was later found that eight jurors actually believed Pearson was guilty of the burglary, but because of a fundamental misunderstanding of the law explained to them, they entered a not guilty verdict and even confirmed it when the judge polled them.It turns out, the jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision when it came to Pearson, but two-thirds of them thought he was guilty. Judge Kent Hamlin had read instructions to them, including one saying that if they couldn't reach a unanimous decision, they should send the judge a note and not sign any verdict forms."That instruction, I don't know if it was overlooked or misunderstood, but it had been explained," Linden Lindahl, defense attorney for Terrel Minnieweather -- the other defendant in the burglary trial.According to jail records, Bobby Pearson was released from jail just before midnight on Wednesday night. About an hour later, just before 1 a.m. on Thursday morning, Fresno Police found him laying in the road in the area of Dayton and West in Central Fresno. He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center where he died from his wounds shortly after arriving.During the investigation, police said Pearson went to his mother's house after leaving the jail and got into a fight with his sister's boyfriend Willie Gray. Police said Gray and Pearson had longstanding personal issues. They said the fight ended with Pearson laying in the road with two wounds -- one they said, looked like a knife wound, the other may be a gunshot wound. Witnesses also reported a loud pop. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday. Police caught the suspect, Willie Gray, on the run about a mile away from the murder scene at an apartment complex. Officers served a search warrant there looking for evidence and they also towed a minivan, which they believe was the getaway vehicle. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said investigators seized a gun at the home where Gray was arrested.Dyer said Gray is being treated for injuries at Community Regional Medical Center, and will face murder charges once he is booked into the Fresno County Jail.Police are still investigating the incident.-----
– Bobby Lee Pearson got what was probably the luckiest break of his life on Wednesday when a jury mistakenly set him free after a burglary trial. It soon turned into the unluckiest break of his life: An hour into his accidental freedom, he got fatally attacked, reports ABC30 in Fresno. The strange chain of events began when jurors couldn't reach a unanimous verdict about Pearson. Eight thought he was guilty and four didn't, and at that point—as the judge had explained to them—they should have sent a note saying they were deadlocked. Instead, they signed a not-guilty form. Judge W. Kent Hamlin learned of the mistake only after the verdict had been read into the public record and had to release the career criminal, reports the Fresno Bee. Otherwise, Hamlin would have declared a mistrial and ordered Pearson held for a second trial. "I can't believe it," he said in court. "I can't change it because double jeopardy has already attached. This has never happened to me in more than 100 jury trials that I have done." Upon being released at 11:57pm Wednesday, Pearson went to his mother's house to collect some belongings and got into a fight with his sister's boyfriend, say police. He was stabbed, with a steak knife found next to his body, and was pronounced dead around 1:25am. "There's not a death penalty on a burglary," the prosecutor in Pearson's case tells AP. "I'm not sitting here thinking he got what he deserved." (Click for another unusual courtroom story.)