Some of you may recall the case of two methamphetamine addicts, Richard Carelli and Michele Pinkerton, both now 39, who were accused of murdering of their landlord, Leonard Hoskins, in December 2007. It seems that Hoskins, who also had a history of meth use, had initiated eviction proceedings against the couple, who lived in his garage in-law unit on Mission Terrace. A neighbor witnessed Carelli hit Hoskins over the head with a wooden board and drag him into the garage. His body was found weeks later in the couples' van, which landed in the impound after they had high-tailed it to Baja, where they were arrested last April. Using meth-head logic, they justified their crime because an eviction would have hurt their chances of regaining custody of their daughter.

Defense attorneys tried to get the case thrown out last year, arguing that Hoskins had died from a pre-existing heart condition related to his own drug use, and that this was a manslaughter case at best. They were apparently successful in arguing this, because the jury split 5-5, with two undecided, over convicting Carelli for second-degree murder and the judge ordered a mistrial. The judge has called the couple back to court August 24th for a possible retrial.