By Associated Press
Talladega, AL – Talladega County Circuit Judge Bo Hollingsworth granted a defense motion and declared a mistrial in the case of a former Lincoln police officer accused of beating a Louisiana man to death in a Burger King parking lot.
Former police Sgt. Kevin Jung will be placed on the status docket next week, and a new jury could be chosen to hear the case next month.
The motion was based on the state not providing the defense with copies of a statement eyewitness Wayne Whitely made to police about the June 2003 beating death of 54-year-old Wayne Earl Ellis of West Monroe, Louisiana, who ended up in Lincoln by mistake.
Whitely refuted the statement under oath on three different occasions, testifying he was afraid to tell the truth while in custody of the Lincoln Police Department, where Jung and co-defendant Kenneth Pollard were employed at the time.
The original statement said Ellis was pulled out of his truck and had his feet kicked out from under him, causing him to strike his head on the pavement.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)