The State - News from March 22, 1989

A mistrial was declared after a San Luis Obispo Superior Court jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in the trial of a man accused of rolling a 100-pound log down a cliff and killing a woman sunbathing on a beach. Eight members of the panel favored convicting Danny Paul Phillips of involuntary manslaughter, while four voted for acquittal and one juror could not reach a decision, a court clerk reported. The mistrial was declared after three days of deliberation. Phillips, 30, of Bakersfield, was charged in the death last Oct. 14 of Kristi A. Rickson, 19, of Grover City, who was sunbathing on Shell Beach with her fiance. Pismo Beach police said Phillips and fellow construction workers were engaged in “horseplay” when the log was rolled down the cliff.