A South Carolina judge declared a mistrial in the case of a white, ex-police chief accused of murdering an unarmed black man in 2011, WLTX-TV has learned.
At a trial that began last week, prosecutors tried to convince jurors that former Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs, 38, murdered 58-year-old Bernard Bailey following a dispute over a ticket Combs gave to the victim's daughter.
Orangeburg County jurors deliberated for over 12 hours but were unable to agree on a conviction, leading Judge Edgar Dickson to dismiss the case at around 2 a.m. Tuesday, WLTX-TV reported.
The jury's final vote was 9 in favor of a guilty verdict and 3 against, however it is unclear what charge the nine jurors agreed on- the defendant could have been convicted of murder or a lesser charge of manslaughter. A third option was to acquit Combs.
Combs' defense attorneys and prosecutors expressed disappointment over the mistrial.
Prosecutor David Pascoe said Combs, who was dismissed from his job months after Bailey's death, was a cop who had a vendetta against Bailey for interfering when he served his daughter a ticket for a broken taillight in March 2011.
Combs sought an arrest warrant for the father after he showed up at the scene of the traffic stop and, according to Combs, obstructed justice.
In May, Bailey went to the Eutawville police station to see if Combs would dismiss the ticket and the police chief said he had an arrest warrant for Bailey.
"He had a month and a half to cool off," Pascoe said, the station reported. "And he didn't do it. This wasn't just a save face warrant for that night. This was a chief of police who'd been on the job for two weeks and he was going to make an example out of Briana Bailey's father. He did."
Bailey left the station and got into his truck and Combs followed him into the parking lot. When Bailey reversed the vehicle, Combs reportedly got wedged in the open door. The cop feared for his life and shot Bailey three times, defense attorneys said.
"He put the chief in the impossible position that he has to decide does he want to go home to his family or does he want to hope that his truck doesn't go over the top of him," Wally Fayssoux, one of Combs' attorneys, said according to WLTX-TV.
Pascoe said he is seeking a retrial for murder.
