A New Zealander accused of a prison murder in the United States faces another trial after a San Diego jury couldn't decide what he was guilty of.
Aucklander Clinton Thinn, the stepbrother of National MP Nikki Kaye, has been on trial for the alleged strangling of cellmate Lyle Woodward at a jail in San Diego in December 2016.
Thinn was behind bars for an earlier botched bank robbery.
![Aucklander Thinn is the stepbrother of National MP Nikki Kaye. Photo / Facebook](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/H342JZ47F5CQ52OI5IDEYLGUVM.jpg?auth=e1e0aae500cabbaae4f380d3b05896cfbfb73b3ad8c19e6b9969424c91dbef0b&width=16&height=22&quality=70&smart=true)
The prosecutor was asking for a first-degree murder conviction but the jury was split three different ways, Star News reporter Neal Putnam told RNZ on Monday.
"They all thought he was guilty but they couldn't agree on what the crime was, whether it was first-degree, second-degree or voluntary manslaughter."