A judge declared a mistrial on Thursday in the trial of an Irvine attorney accused of helping his wife frame a PTA leader for a drug arrest at their son's school.
Jurors in the trial of Kent Wycliffe Easter said they were deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction, but were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
The jury began deliberating on Tuesday.
Prosecutors have not decided whether they will retry the case, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
Easter and his wife, Jill Bjorkholm Easter, were indicted on charges of conspiracy to procure false arrest, false imprisonment and conspiracy to falsely report a crime. She pleaded guilty Oct. 30 and was sentenced to serve 120 days in jail.
The case dates to 2010, while the unidentified parent volunteer was at the school in Irvine, where Jill and Kent Easter’s son was a student.
Prosecutors accused the couple of hatching the plot to retaliate against the teacher who they believe was not properly supervising their son.
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The couple was accused of planting a bag of Vicodin, Percocet, marijuana, and a used marijuana pipe behind the driver’s seat of the woman's unlocked vehicle and then calling police to report she was driving erratically and had drugs, according to the Orange County Grand Jury indictment.
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