{"id":183010,"date":"2026-04-02T02:05:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183010\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T02:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:05:28","slug":"shocker-in-trial-of-nypd-officer-jonathan-dillers-alleged-killer-as-lone-juror-balks-on-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183010\/","title":{"rendered":"Shocker in trial of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller’s alleged killer as lone juror balks on verdict"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lone juror threw the trial<\/a> of NYPD Offier Jonathan Diller\u2019s accused killer into disarray Wednesday \u2014 declaring he didn\u2019t agree with the verdict after the foreman read what was supposed to be their unanimous decision to acquit on murder but convict on aggravated manslaughter.<\/p>\n

The eight men and four women deciding 35-year-old ex-convict Guy Rivera\u2019s fate ended their first day of deliberations with an announcement they\u2019d reached a verdict after just four hours.<\/p>\n

But when it came time to poll the individual jurors and Juror No. 5 was asked, \u201cIs this your verdict?\u201d he said, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word hit like a vinyl record scratch during an already emotional scene, as Diller\u2019s wife, Stephanie, quietly cried as a supporter held her.<\/p>\n

\"StephanieStephanie Diller, the widow of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, is pictured during the trial of Guy Rivera, who is charged with the murder of Officer Diller, at Queens Criminal Court on April 1, 2026. (Gregory P. Mango \/ Pool)<\/p>\n

Judge Michael Aloise told the jurors their decision had to be unanimous, and sent them back in for deliberations.<\/p>\n

A few minutes later, the jurors asked through a note how long they\u2019d have to deliberate if they couldn\u2019t reach a verdict, and another juror asked to make a phone call to cancel a real estate appointment.<\/p>\n

Before Juror No. 5 dropped his bombshell, the foreman read a verdict of not guilty for first-degree murder, then guilty for first-degree aggravated manslaughter, attempted murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, jurors asked to see a video compilation showing the deadly March 25, 2024 shooting,<\/a> and asked for a readback of the elements needed to convict Rivera on the top charges against him.<\/p>\n

\"FamilyFamily and supporters of NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller gather outside the courtroom before prosecution closing arguments in the trial of his accused killer, Guy Rivera, at Queens Criminal Court in Queens, New York City on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Gardiner Anderson \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say Rivera deliberately shot<\/a> the 31-year-old officer in the stomach on Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway, in a violent attempt to blast his way out of a car stop that would have otherwise ended with his arrest on gun charges.<\/p>\n

Rivera\u2019s defense team argued that he didn\u2019t intend to shoot Diller, and that a gun in his pocket discharged after another officer, Sgt. Sasha Rosen, reached into the parked Kia where Rivera was sitting and grabbed the firearm during a struggle.<\/p>\n

Rivera is also accused of aiming the gun at Rosen\u2019s chest, point blank, and trying to murder him, as well, foiled when his .380-caliber handgun jammed.<\/p>\n

Rivera was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree aggravated manslaughter in relation to Diller\u2019s death, and Aloise explained to the jurors Wednesday morning that they could convict on one or the other, if they find him guilty.<\/p>\n

\"GuyGuy Rivera, charged in the fatal shooting of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, is pictured during his trial at Queens Criminal Court on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Gregory P. Mango \/ Pool)<\/p>\n

Murder 1 carries the possibility of life without parole, while the aggravated manslaughter charge has a 25-year maximum sentence.<\/p>\n

Intent still factors into the aggravated manslaughter charge, with the judge telling jurors they would have to find that Rivera wanted to cause serious bodily injury to Diller.<\/p>\n

Rivera faced the attempted murder for allegedly trying to shoot Rosen, plus two counts of criminal possession of a weapon \u2014 one for the gun that killed Diller, the other for a loaded gun in the car\u2019s glove compartment.<\/p>\n

Deliberations continued into the evening Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A lone juror threw the trial of NYPD Offier Jonathan Diller\u2019s accused killer into disarray Wednesday \u2014 declaring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,122,124,123,265],"class_list":{"0":"post-183010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-city","9":"tag-county","10":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-new-york-county","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-nyc-crime","19":"tag-queens","20":"tag-queens-headlines","21":"tag-queens-news","22":"tag-sub-county-region"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}