ESCONDIDO — A second mistrial was declared March 20 in the case of a man who police believe killed a 23-year-old parolee during a retaliatory attack.

Superior Court Judge Joan Weber declared a mistrial after jurors informed her they were deadlocked 10-2 in favor of guilt in Matthew Darnell Miller’s murder trial.

The judge’s ruling came nearly six weeks after another Superior Court judge declared a mistrial Feb. 6 in the case. In that trial, the jury was split 6-6 on the murder charge.

A March 25 hearing was set to determine whether the District Attorney’s office would retry the case.

Miller, 27, is charged with gunning down Pedro David Gutierrez, a reputed gang member, on the evening of May 24, 2007, in 1700 block of East Grand Avenue in Escondido near the Pepperwood apartment complex.

At the time of his death, Gutierrez, who had recently been released from prison, had a car stereo in the waistband of his pants and the faceplate for the stereo in his pants pocket, authorities said.

Miller and his now ex-girlfriend, Annabel Munoz, were arrested in connection with the murder; however, shortly after their arrest, Munoz accepted a plea agreement to a reduced charge of being an accomplice after the fact in exchange for her cooperation and testimony, court records show.

In lieu of her agreement, Munoz’s bail was reduced from $2 million to $25,000 and the maximum amount of prison time she faces was reduced from life to three years in prison, according to court documents.

Munoz testified at both trials that she and Miller were in her car shortly after 5 p.m. near the Pepperwood apartment complex when the defendant thought he recognized the man who had stabbed him in the early morning hours of Oct. 21, 2006, outside of an Escondido taco shop.

After Miller exited the car, Munoz said she lost sight of him, but assumed he was going to confront the man. She said she then heard approximately two gunshots and Miller returned shortly after.

During both trials, Munoz was adamant that Miller never told her about shooting anyone and that in the four years she’d known him she never saw him carrying a gun.

However, Jennifer Schmidt, a friend of Miller’s family, reluctantly testified that a day after the murder Miller confessed the crime to her.

In addition, she said she was familiar with Miller carrying a smaller caliber gun, but nothing like the .45 caliber revolver that was used in the murder.

The murder weapon has not been recovered.

A surveillance video from the Pepperwood apartment complex validated Munoz’s testimony about the time that Miller was at the complex. However, Miller’s clothing in the video is different from what a teenage girl, the only eyewitness, recollected in her testimony. Further, the teenage girl couldn’t positively identify Miller as the shooter.

Miller remains in custody on more than $2 million bail.