A Suffolk Superior Court judge late today declared a mistrial in proceedings against a Dorchester woman charged with murdering her husband, Sylvester Mitchell, on the man’s 40th birthday.

Prosecutors said they intend to retry the case against SHARON FITZPATRICK (D.O.B. 7/26/71) at the earliest opportunity. The parties will return to court on March 9 for trial assignment.

Judge Judith Fabricant released jurors at the end of their third full day of deliberations after the panel sent a note indicating they were hopelessly deadlocked in their deliberations. That note followed a similar note earlier today, after which Fabricant read them a legal instruction urging them to do their collective best to reach a unanimous decision.

Fitzpatrick is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing Mitchell to death during an argument in their Evans Street home at about 4:30 a.m. on May 5, 2007. Prosecutors say Fitzpatrick was angry at him because he came home later than expected that morning.

Assistant District Attorney David Deakin, chief of the district attorney’s Family Protection and Sexual Assault Bureau, is prosecuting the case with attorney Rosemary Scapicchio. Paula Connor is the district attorney’s assigned victim-witness advocate.