Plea negotiation, retrial among options after hung jury in Wetteland sex assault trial
After a split jury and mistrial last week in Denton County, prosecutors expect either to enter into plea negotiations with attorneys representing John Wetteland or will retry the former Texas Rangers relief pitcher, whom they accuse of sexually assaulting a child three times after he retired.
“We will move forward,” Jamie Beck, the first assistant district attorney at the Denton County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, wrote in an email. Beck noted the path to a disposition will be up to Wetteland.
Denton County Judge Lee Ann Breading on Friday declared a mistrial in the aggravated sexual assault of a child case against Wetteland.
The jury told the judge three times that it was split. At one point, Breading said she heard loud arguing coming from the deliberation room.
Wetteland, who testified in his defense, played for the Rangers from 1997 to 2000, and earlier for the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners. He is in the Rangers’ Hall of Fame.
In its third note to the judge, the jury said it was deadlocked and some jurors were “unwilling to budge.” The jurors asked how long they were expected to deliberate. Some were concerned about child care. Breading pressed the jury to continue trying to reach a verdict.
After questioning the jury about 5 p.m., she declared a mistrial.
Wetteland, 56, faces 25 years to life in prison on each of the three counts of the offense if he is found guilty.
Jurors in 462nd District Court heard from the accuser, Wetteland and other witnesses.
According to authorities, Wetteland forced the boy to perform oral sex on him in a shower on three occasions between 2004 and 2006, starting when the child was 4 years old. Wetteland pleaded not guilty and testified that the accuser’s account of sexual assaults is a lie.
Wetteland attorney Derek Adame could not be reached for an interview.
This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 1:20 PM.
