Hung Jury! David McKay is Free (For Now)

Submitted by haloka on Mon, 02/02/2009 tc.indymedia.org

UPDATE 7pm: Bond was posted and McKay walked out of jail for the first time in 5 months this evening.

The case of United States vs. David McKay was declared a mistrial Monday afternoon when the jury was unable to reach a verdict. McKay was granted a conditional release, provided $25,000 bail or $2,500 bond can be posted. Unless the charges are dropped, a re-trial will commence on March 16.

After the jury confirmed it was unable to reach a unanimous decision and a mistrial was declared, prosecutor Asst. U.S. Attorney Paulsen requested that jurors not be permitted to talk to media, that McKay be held in custody, and that McKay be retried within 70 days.

Defense attorney Jeff DeGree asked that the judge put together a set of conditions under which McKay would be released, noting that McKay's father had attended the trial and would house McKay, and that he would have employment in Austin with his aunt's firm.

McKay's release was granted on several conditions laid out by Judge Davis: that he not commit crimes nor be arrested; that he reside with his father in Midland, TX until suitable housing elsewhere is approved by pretrial services; that he not threaten through any medium Brandon Darby or any of the other witnesses in the case; that he surrender his passport to pretrial services; that he not leave the state of Texas except to go to and from Minnesota; and that he submit to drug testing and be taken back into custody if he misses a drug test.

Judge Davis then set the date for a re-trial for March 16. The trial may be moved from the federal building in Minneapolis to the federal building in St. Paul, due to anticipated construction.

Earlier in the day, the jury had sent a question to the judge asking for access to the trial transcripts. Specifically, they asked for access to Brandon Darby's testimony regarding the August 31 meeting before the group, without Darby, went to Wal-Mart for the supplies from which the molotov cocktails were allegedly made. They also asked for FBI Special Agent Tim Sellers' testimony about a June 8 email from Darby, in which Darby expressed that he hopes "enough eyes and ears" would be placed on the case so that he can "get away," and that he was profoundly offended" by the Austin Affinity Group.

In response to the question, prosecutor Paulsen asked the court read the transcripts to the jury, but DeGree objected, and the transcripts were not read.