by peter e. bortner
A Pottsville man remains in prison after a Schuylkill County jury could not reach a verdict Monday on whether he sold crack cocaine last August in the city.
Caleb D. Green, 31, did not react as the jury of seven men and five women, after deliberating about two hours, told Judge John E. Domalakes it could not reach a verdict on charges of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance.
After questioning the jurors and determining they were deadlocked, Domalakes declared a mistrial and sent them home, thereby ending the one-day trial.
Green returned to prison, where he is being held in lieu of posting $2,500, or 10 percent of his $25,000 percentage bail.
District Attorney Karen Byrnes-Noon said she would consult with the Pottsville police before deciding whether to retry Green.
Because there was no verdict, prosecutors can try Green again without violating the constitutional ban on double jeopardy. The earliest Green could be retried is the June criminal court term, which is scheduled to start on June 3.
Pottsville police charged Green with selling crack cocaine to a confidential informant on Aug. 29 in the 900 block of West Norwegian Street.
"He's going to sell to someone he knows," Byrnes-Noon said of Green in her closing argument in response to attacks on the informant's credibility. "He admits it's him in the video. Who chose the area? The defendant."
Byrnes-Noon also said the confidential informant was in constant view of at least one of the police officers and Green was the only person with whom that informant had contact.
Assistant Public Defender Andrea L. Thompson, Green's lawyer, said the police could not have seen the confidential informant the entire time, and therefore, cannot prove she did not get the cocaine from someone other than Green
Furthermore, Thompson said, police cannot prove Green did not dump the money while walking along the street.
"Every question that's unanswered is reasonable doubt," Thompson said.Defendant: Caleb D. Green
Age: 31
Residence: Pottsville
Charges: Delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance
Result: Jury hung on all charges