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| Mistrial in jail case |
| By Jackson Sun |
| Published: 03/21/2005 |
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After more than nine hours of deliberation that continued into last Friday afternoon, a McNairy County (Tenn.) jury didn't return verdicts on any of the counts against Sheriff Tommy Riley or jail administrator Jimmy Lyles, resulting in a mistrial. Following an inmate getting pregnant by a former jailer, Riley and Lyles are accused of aiding the female inmate's escape, tampering with government records to cover the escape, and filing a false report about the incident. Riley is also charged with official misconduct, which would mean immediate removal from office if convicted. The jury deliberated from 6:30 to nearly 10 p.m. last Thursday, when Circuit Court Judge Joseph Walker called it a day. The jury, a few hours earlier, when the jury had been called back into the courtroom to allow the judge to answer one of their written questions to him, he asked if the jury had come to a decision on any of the charges for either defendant. The jury's appointed foreman answered ''yes,'' and mentioned Lyles' name. When the jury returned to the courtroom a few hours later, Judge Walker remarked to jurors that he hoped more time would help them come closer to deciding on whichever counts they may have been deadlocked on. ''I don't think it will,'' the jury's foreman answered. ''We lost what we gained when we went back this time.'' So verdicts weren't returned on any of the charges. The District Attorney General's office will retry the case, which Judge Walker has tentatively set for May 2. That means starting back at square one under the same judge, in the same court, but appealing to a new panel of jurors. ''We're both disappointed that the jury couldn't reach a verdict,'' said Selmer attorney Terry Abernathy, who represented Riley in the five-day trial. In his statement, he referred to both he and Jackson attorney Mark Donahoe, who defended Lyles. ''It's unbelievable torture for a family to have to go through this again. But we are going to attack it with vigor one more time, if that's what we have to do.'' Assistant District Attorney Walt Freeland said he couldn't comment on the case. |
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