A Brooklyn deadlocked jury spared the life of Emile...

A Brooklyn deadlocked jury spared the life of Emile Dixon, foiling Attorney General John Ashcroft's bid for the death penalty. Dixon had been found guilty by the same jury Dec. 9 of murdering Robert Thompson on June 26, 2000 and Alphonso Gooden in October 1992 as part of a cocaine-distribution operation. The jury determined that while it was proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Dixon had a role in the 2 homicides, there were mitigating factors that swayed a number of them away from capital punishment. Among the most crucial, according to the special verdict sheet, were Dixon's intellectual and emotional impairments and the fact that he had grown up in a Flatbush neighborhood where drugs and violence were rampant. He emigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica at age 9. Because a jury must come to a unanimous decision on the death penalty, the deadlock meant Dixon, 33, will spend the rest of his life behind bars. The case drew national attention last year when hard-liner Ashcroft overruled prosecutors and said Dixon's crime met the standard for the death penalty. Judge Raymond Dearie did not set a sentencing date. Ashcroft's office had no comment.