Campbell to Face New Trial

Isaac Campbell will answer to fresh murder charges in the August 2007 death of his ex-girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, Prosecutor Steve Ipsen said.

A jury found Campbell not guilty of first-degree murder in December following a grueling month-long trial and seven days of deliberations. However, the panel could not decide whether the defendant was guilty of the lesser charges of second-degree murder or manslaughter.

Campbell cannot be found guilty of first-degree murder in the case again due to the Double Jeopardy clause in the Constitution. If convicted of the lesser charges in his new trial, Campbell would be eligible for parole in 15 years.

The trial would likely begin in the weeks immediately following a scheduled Jan. 12 pretrial hearing, Ipsen said.

"We're ready to go to trial again because the witnesses are available and there's no reason not to get this resolved as soon possible for the sake of everybody involved...including Mr. Campbell."

The jury appears to have become deadlocked over whether Lu died a natural death or at Campbell's hand. The medical examiner was .

Prosecutors say Campbell placed Lu in a martial arts hold, commonly called a "sleeper hold," that compressed the carotid arteries in her neck, inducing cardiac arrhythmia.

The defense team says Lu probably succumbed to an undiagnosed seizure disorder during an argument the two had in Campbell's apartment the night she died.

The doctor who treated Lu in April 2007 for complaints of severe headaches and nausea — symptoms that accompany both migraines and partial seizure disorders — testified for the defense.

Campbell freely admitted he went to great lengths to conceal Lu's death. Hethat he put her body in a trash can, topped it with cat litter and hid in the garage of an unsuspecting friend's home in Arcadia.

He then fled to Minnesota, where authorities arrested him and extradited him to California to face charges.

Defense lawyer James Duffy says he and his client feel prepared to go to trial again.

"Isaac Campbell is not guilty of murder," Duffy said.

Campbell remains in custody in lieu of $1.2 million bail. The new trial will take place at the Superior Courthouse in Alhambra, as did the original trial.