The trial for a pro-Trump businessman accused of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to build the wall along the southern border ended in a mistrial on Tuesday due to a lone holdout, the New York Times reports.
Timothy Shea, the owner of Winning Energy, a MAGA-themed energy drink whose cans have a cartoon superhero image of Trump and claim to contain “12 oz. of liberal tears,” was charged with conspiracy and falsification of records after him and his co-conspirators, including Steve Bannon, dipped into the $25 million raised from their ‘We Build the Wall’ fundraising campaign to fund personal expenses.
The judge presiding over the case, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres, declared a mistrial on Tuesday after receiving several reports from 11 jurors saying they could not reach a verdict due to one holdout.
The jurors unanimously requesting that the one juror be replaced by an alternate juror. They said the juror had expressed anti-government bias and had accused his fellow jurors of being liberals.
The panel quoted the juror as saying things such as “government witch hunt” and accusing the government of venue shopping, according to Courthouse News. The juror also allegedly said Shea “should have been tried in a Southern state,” and claimed that the government brought the case in New York City because they “knew people here vote differently.”
After Judge Torres received the note, she questioned the juror in her chambers. She asked the juror if he had any biases or personal views that prevent him from being a fair and impartial juror. The juror said he did not and she allowed him to remain on the jury.
After the trial ended on Tuesday some members of the jury told reporters that the juror ignored evidence during deliberations and was “hung up” on where We Build The Wall’s money was coming from, he even suggesting that “maybe Trump gave them the money.”
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said his office looks forward to retrying the case. “While the jury was unfortunately unable to reach a unanimous verdict in U.S. v. Timothy Shea, that in no way lessens our resolve or belief in the powerful and compelling evidence that we strongly believe proves his guilt.”
Shea is standing trial alone because Bannon, was pardoned by Trump before he left office. And two other defendants–Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage and venture capitalist Andrew Badolato–pleaded guilty.
