By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com
The corruption case against ex-Detroit City Council aide and political consultant Sam Riddle ended in a mistrial Wednesday after one juror refused to convict, the Detroit News reported. The government said it will retry the case.
“On the steps of the federal courthouse, angry jurors said the holdout refused to deliberate and accused them of wanting to “hang the black man’,” they said,” according to the News. The mistrial, declared by U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, came on the 6th day of deliberations
The News reported that the jury foreman Matt Lefevre said the African American juror who held out had her mind set against conviction “before the (jury) door shut.”
Riddle was charged with shaking down business people along with his ex-boss City Council member Monica Conyers, wife of Rep. John Conyers. She has been convicted on public corruption charges and awaits sentence.
