It’s the one outcome guaranteed to ensure that nobody is happy.
Federal prosecutors plan to retry their corruption case against Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole after a judge today declared a hung jury in the three-week trial on charges that he accepted bribes to steer millions of dollars in contracts to a developer.
[…]
John Pearson, the lead federal prosecutor, said he respected the jury’s decision, but confirmed that the U.S. Attorney’s office will retry the case.
Eversole was charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of accepting a bribe and two counts of filing false income tax returns in 2003 and 2004.
A look at the jury’s votes on the charges against Eversole show how close he came to be convicted on at least two of the crimes.
On the conspiracy charge, five jurors found him guilty; seven not guilty.
On the bribery charge, 10 found him guilty; two not guilty.
On one of the false tax return charges, 10 ruled guilty; two not guilty. On the second charge, seven found him guilty; five not guilty.
Today’s mistrial marks the second time the county commissioner has avoided a conviction on criminal charges lodged against him.
I’m not surprised the feds will take another crack at him – they did come pretty close. I wonder if Eversole will be as insistent on getting the trial done in a speedy manner as before. One way or the other, we’ll have him to kick around for awhile longer.