A Fresno County jury Monday found two Fresno gang members who inked a tattoo on a 7-year-old boy not guilty of aggravated mayhem, saying the child's testimony against his father wasn't believable.

Jurors deliberated 10 1/2 hours over three days before informing Superior Court Judge Arlan Harrell of the verdict, which eliminates possible life sentences for the men. The panel then said it was deadlocked on several lesser felony charges, including simple mayhem, willful cruelty to a child and battery causing serious bodily injury.

"Another jury will have to make that decision," the jury foreman said outside court. He declined to reveal which way the panel was leaning, other than to say it was not 11-1.

The District Attorney's Office and the Fresno Police Department had built their case on the boy's account that his 27-year-old father, Enrique Gonzalez, held him down on a couch while Travis Gorman, 22, inked a dog paw -- the symbol of the Bulldogs gang -- on the boy's hip during Easter break in 2009.

But defense lawyers accused the district attorney of singling out Gorman and Gonzalez for unfairly harsh prosecution because they were Bulldog gang members.

In the end, the jury of six men and six women didn't find the boy's testimony entirely credible, said jury foreman Ryan, who identified himself only by his first name.

The panel, Ryan said, believed Gonzalez when he testified that he loved his son and wouldn't do anything to harm him.

The partial victory prompted the two shackled defendants to hug their attorneys, Douglas Foster and Manuel Nieto.

"Life is off the table, as it should be," said Nieto, who defended Gorman.

Aggressive prosecution

Foster, who defended Gonzalez, said the verdict vindicates his and Nieto's criticism of police and the prosecution.

"Police have a right to crack down on gangs," Foster said. "But prosecutors have to pick their cases."

Prosecutor William Lacy, who has the option to retry the two defendants on the lesser felony charges, declined to comment. His boss, District Attorney Elizabeth Egan, issued a statement: "Unfortunately, this is still [a] case pending prosecution; therefore, we cannot discuss the case."

Some have questioned the decision by the District Attorney's Office to file the charges of aggravated mayhem. Before the trial, one judge had dismissed the aggravated mayhem charges, while another judge reinstated them. Defense lawyers also asked Harrell to dismiss the mayhem charges, but he said it was up to the jury to decide.

Michael Idiart, a former Fresno County assistant district attorney, said before the trial that prosecutors have a right to aggressively combat gang violence, but in this case they overreached.

He said Monday that the verdict now gives both sides a chance to come to a fair resolution, which could result in prison sentences for both defendants, but not life behind bars.

"They need to be held accountable because you can't tattoo kids," he said.

Others have supported the aggressive prosecution. Former Fresno County District Attorney Ed Hunt said the defendants' conduct was so egregious that he probably would have filed the aggravated mayhem charges as a matter of public policy. "Sometimes you have to roll the dice with what you've got," he said. "But in the end you have to live with the verdict."

The case returns to court June 17. Foster and Nieto said they hope to resolve the case without another trial.

Before trial, Foster said Gonzalez was willing to plead to a felony and be sentenced to prison for about seven years. But after the verdict, Foster backed off on a seven-year sentence for his client, saying that may be too much time in prison, considering what jurors have told him.