Mistrial Declared After Two Jurors Arrested In St. Mary Parish

Jury duty is an essential civic duty that every U.S. citizen is eligible for every four months. Unfortunately, not everyone takes it seriously.

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KATC reported that Dong Van Tang is accused of several counts of molestation of a juvenile. A trial was being held in St. Mary Parish for the sex abuse case until two jurors were deemed unfit to participate in the trial.

After the 8-year-old victim testified, a juror failed to return to court and was not successfully located. The trial resumed after an alternate was selected. However, after the second day of testimony, information that a juror may have lied during the jury selection process reached the court.

As in most cases, the potential jurors were asked if they knew anyone involved in the case, whether it be a member of law enforcement, the victim or their family, or the defendant. According to St. Mary Parish Court records, a juror lied during the selection process when asked this question and did in fact know the victim's family.

The juror claims that since Morgan City is a small town, she did 'know of' the victim's family, but upon further investigation, she didn't just 'know of' them; the juror had attended social events where they were present and worked with a family member.

She shared this information with another juror before all testimonies were completed, violating court orders.

According to KATC, Judge Rodger Hamilton sentenced the juror who failed to return up to five days in jail for 'contempt of court' and sentenced the juror who lied about her relationship with the victim's family to fifteen days in jail for 'contempt of court' as well.

District Attorney Bo Duhe told KATC that had the jurors understood how important the selection process, participation, and simply telling the truth is to a trial, the victims wouldn't be forced to testify and relive the trauma they endured.

"All we want are honest and fair jurors. That's all we want. It's about having a fair trial. Everyone has a constitutional right to a fair trial. If you're accused of a crime in this country, you get a fair trial, and part of that is having jurors who are going to be honest about what they may know about the case."

According to court records, the trial has been rescheduled for November.