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Hung jury in trial for attempted murder of Pismo Beach officer

September 20, 2024

Charles Nelson Ammons

By KAREN VELIE

The trial of a man accused of attempting to murder a Pismo Beach police officer ended Thursday in a hung jury on two counts: attempted murder and resisting an executive officer, with 11 jurors voting for guilty and one for not guilty.

If all 12 jurors can’t unanimously agree on whether someone is innocent or guilty, the jury is deadlocked. In this case, the jurors found 48-year-old Charles Ammons guilty on six counts including: assault on a police officer with a semiautomatic weapon, carrying a loaded handgun, and drunk driving.

Because the jury was hung on two counts, the prosecution can either decide to try Ammons a second time, or it can decide to accept guilty on six charges.

With charges pending from another arrest, an intoxicated Ammons was driving his van on Pomeroy Avenue on April 15, 2022 when a Pismo Beach policeman attempted to pull him over for a code violation. When officer Chris Siglin opened the van’s driver side door, Ammons pointed a semiautomatic pistol at Siglin’s head and pulled the trigger, but the gun malfunctioned because the ammunition was loaded in backwards.

At the time of the traffic stop, Ammons’ blood alcohol level was .218 percent, more than two times the legal limit. With DUI arrests in 2013 and 2016, this was Ammons’ third.

After the gun malfunctioned, Siglin and Ammons struggled and fell into the back of the van.

Ammons was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic gun, carrying a loaded handgun that was not registered to him, possession of a concealed firearm not registered to him, DUI and public intoxication along with multiple enhancements.

At trial, Ammon’s attorney Christina DiEdoardo argued her client was not trying to kill the officer, and that their was no evidence he pulled the trigger. She claimed what the officer said was a click could have been something banging during the struggle.

 


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So the defense was he pulled out a loaded firearm pointed it at the officer but did not intend to use it. Must have been his lucky day. Could have had the inside of his van redecorated.


2

Wow L.B. I don’t recall that I agree with you very often, but this time you absolutely right. Cops lie and exaggerate nearly all the time. DA’s overcharge nearly all the time. Most likely the jury saw through all this,

 

When I was in my early twenties, I was on a jury for a man accused of two felonies related to battery on an officer. This would be over 50 years ago, and I still remember a lot of the details. This would have been when I was young and naïve. The primary witness was the cop. I remember how he swaggered to the witness stand with all his leather squeaking and hardware jingling like he was the star of the show. I was far too inexperienced to realize that he most likely made up most of what he said. One juror apparently did recognize it and became a hold-out. Eventually we did find him guilty on one count. Looking back, I think the judge also knew the cop at least exaggerating (read lying) because he almost immediately changed the count to a misdemeanor, and fined the man $700. Had I known then what I know now, there would have been a hung jury on both counts. I think about that injustice often. It is likely something like that occurred in this case.


-3

Better to let ten guilty men off rather than wrongfully convict one innocent. That’s the principal our system is founded on, frustrating at times, but morally correct.


What is the mandatory time for the six counts he was found guilty on? No point in fighting through another jury to get 30 years if he’s already gonna be locked up for 20. Don’t let perfect get in the way of good.


-3

How much “District Attorneying” Did Dan Dow Do while spending 7 months deployed with the National Guard?

I highly respect anyone who serves in the military but did the National Guard spefically need Dan Dow to rush to the Middle East?

Couldn’t have Dan Dow politely declined the offer stating that he is the elected District Attorney and has an important job here in the county… or did it HAVE to be Dan Dow?

And did Dan Dow receive his District Attorney salary AND a military paycheck while “out of the office” for 7 months?


-8

Major prosecution failure. Before the retrial maybe Dan Dow needs to send his Deputies to a refresher course on juror pick-in.


7

Or we need a new DA who is less of a politician and more law enforcement.


8