Mistrial in kidnapping, sex assault case

DOVER — A Strafford County Superior Court judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case of Korey S. Dean one day after allegations about potential juror misconduct arose due to one juror's remarks about knives and BDSM.

The mistrial was declared after jurors informed the court around 1:15 p.m. Friday they had reached a deadlock on their third day of deliberations. Jurors told the court they couldn’t reach a unanimous decision on five of Dean’s six felony charges, nor a decision on one subset of the sixth charge against him.

Dean, 26, of Dover, stood trial for three days on three counts of criminal threatening and one count each of kidnapping, aggravated felonious sexual assault and first-degree assault.

He is accused of threatening to cut off a woman’s head and tattoo with a knife while sexually assaulting her in October 2015. The defense has argued the events transpired as part of a consensual sexual fantasy.

The deadlock and mistrial came a day after a juror informed the court in a typed note that multiple jurors were concerned another member of the jury, Juror 14, wasn’t able to review the evidence and testimony fairly, Judge Steven Houran explained in open court Thursday afternoon.

The concerned juror alleged that Juror 14 was positioning himself as an expert on knives and BDSM sexual relationships during deliberations. Juror 14’s statements related and/or ran counter to expert and witness testimony jurors heard at trial, according to the concerned juror’s note.

Juror 14, the same juror who delayed Dean’s trial because he didn’t show on the first day, also allegedly wasn’t following the court’s specific instructions and allegedly said he’s uncomfortable with the potential punishment Dean could face if they convict him, according to the concerned juror’s note. Dean faces up to 63 years in state prison if convicted on all six felonies.

While Deputy County Attorney Tim Sullivan told the court Thursday afternoon he took issue with Juror 14’s application of his own personal interpretations and testimony, the court didn’t formally question Juror 14 or remove him when court resumed Friday morning.

“I certainly respect the decision,” said Sullivan. “I don’t agree with it, but I respect it. It’s his call. Obviously, we had concerns about the comments being made and whether or not this jury was being fair and impartial to both sides.”

David Betancourt, Dean’s public defender, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Friday.

The court also didn’t conduct voir dire Friday about the typed note. The typed nature of the note puzzled the court, state and defense Thursday because jurors don’t have access to computers or printers during their deliberations.

According to Sullivan, the only voir dire Houran conducted Friday was to ask every member of the jury whether they read the article Foster’s Daily Democrat published about the concerns surrounding Juror 14. Houran didn’t specifically mention Juror 14 during the voir dire, according to Sullivan.

The jury resumed deliberations around 10 a.m. Friday after jurors said they hadn’t seen the article, Sullivan said.

Roughly three hours and 15 minutes of deliberation later, the jury informed the court of its deadlock.

The one charge on which jurors weren’t deadlocked, according to Sullivan, was the first-degree assault charge. He said the jury unanimously acquitted Dean of first-degree assault and the subset second-degree assault charge within it, but they said they were deadlocked on whether Dean was guilty of the simple assault charge also within that subset.

“So essentially they’re deadlocked on six charges,” with the first-degree assault charge being reduced to a simple assault charge, Sullivan said.

Sullivan said it’s too soon to say whether he will request a retrial.

“We obviously haven’t made any decisions at this point,” Sullivan said, outlining a retrial, a guilty plea, or the state deciding to drop the charges as the three options moving forward.

The state and defense are expected to meet in court for a status hearing in the near future. It hadn’t been scheduled as of Friday.