News Now: Mistrial declared in horse abuse case

A Colusa County horse abuse case has ended in a mistrial. After two days of deliberations, a jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of convicting John B. Allen Jr. on two felony counts of animal cruelty. Reading a jury note in Colusa County Superior Court just before 5 p.m, Judge S. William Abel said the six-man, six-woman panel was hopelessly deadlocked.
 A new trial has been set for the week of Dec. 9. 



Colusa County District Attorney John Poyner said he was disappointed in the outcome of the trial.



"It's a heck of a lot of work," Poyner said. Poyner had asked the judge to send the jury home and bring them back Thursday morning to continue deliberations, but Abel disagreed. 



"Sometimes, when they're done, they're done," Abel said. "All 12 said no further deliberation would be needed."



The trial stemmed from the July 27, 2007, discovery of a dead 16-year-old brown named Justin on Allen's property near River and Laux roads north of Colusa. Prosecutors accused him of neglecting his two horses for more than three weeks, leaving them without enough water.
A water pump that should have filled the animals' troughs reportedly broke down while Allen was away.


County investigators also seized Gal, a 18-year-old female American paint, which they described as emaciated and severely weakened after enduring triple-digit temperatures while Allen was attending a Wisconsin air show.