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Why a judge allowed a mistrial in case against former Pullman Police Sergeant

After a day and a half of deliberations, a judge order a mistrial in the case against Dan Hargraves, who's accused of sexual misconduct.

SPOKANE, Wash. — A day after the sexual assault trial against a former Pullman Police sergeant ended in a mistrial, questions remain.

Among them: Why didn't the judge allow the jury to take another look at DNA evidence before they could reach a verdict?

Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy said Washington state law recommends judges should not allow jurors to review particular testimony. The fear in doing so is that might over-emphasize some evidence over another.

The jury only deliberated for about a day and a half before telling the judge they could not come to a consensus.

Tracy said state law instructs judges to not require a jury to continue deliberations if they clearly say they cannot agree and won't be able to.

According to Spokane County prosecutor Larry Haskell, mistrials are not uncommon.

He said typically if a case is retried, the prosecutor's office will consider the nature of the charges and what could be done differently.

But until a settlement is made, or the prosecutor decides to go to trial again, Haskell said the defendant's charges are still in place.

The Whitman County prosecutor plans to make a decision on how to move forward next week.

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