The case of a Gardiner man who has been accused of killing one person and attempting to kill another person in 2020 was declared a mistrial on Wednesday after some jurors were disturbed by body camera footage shown in court.
The footage pulled from body cameras worn by Gardiner police showed officers tending to the two people that Dylan Ketcham is accused of attacking on Jan. 25, 2020, according to the Kennebec Journal. Ketcham is accused of murder after 22-year-old Jordan Johnson died from his injuries after receiving a gun wound to the head on Jan. 25, 2020.
Ketcham is also charged with elevated aggravated assault and the attempted murder of Caleb Trudeau, who suffered severe stab wounds.
Ketcham told police he was attacked first and was defending himself, according to a police affidavit.
Ketcham’s trial started on Monday. However, a mistrial was declared by Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy on Wednesday after Ketcham’s defense requested a mistrial on Tuesday afternoon, the Kennebec Journal reported.
Murphy noted that the mistrial ruling came after a number of jurors appeared to be disturbed by the body camera footage that was shown. The jurors were not alerted during the screening process that they would be shown such graphic content, and were not asked if the graphic content would affect their ability to reach an unbiased verdict, Murphy said on Wednesday.
The trial is set to be rescheduled as soon as possible, according to the Kennebec Journal.
