he still feels like they re saying he s a murderer. brian had even seen in the paper that they were callin him a crazy and deranged neighbor. it just devastated him. that summer, brian tate tumbled into a downward spiral and never recovered. he died in september 2012, just four months after lisa s murder. the coroner would think it was heart. yes. what s the family think it was? we think it was heart. a broken heart. and now prosecutors andy prosser and scott brown from the state s attorney general s office worried that a jury might think the deranged, deceased, neighbor did it. their plan had been to call tate as a witness. on the theory that the devil you know is always better than the devil you don t, we wanted the jury to see mr. tate. but now with a trial date approaching, prosecutors had lost a key witness. bad for us. good for them. it s great for them. the long-awaited murder trial of seth techel was in
squeezed andy s arm, and i said i ll take this. to stand up here and suggest that anyone in the courtroom is trying or attempting to intentionally influence the jury is absolute nonsense. the courtroom started to settle down and clear. but seth remained at the defense table, his former father-in-law coiled behind him, ready to pounce. i was just praying, please just let me stand here. for more than a minute, glaring, burning a hole in seth s back. if looks could kill. there s just kind of an urge to move forward. to jump the rail? yeah. god, please don t make me do that. just let me stand. what were you doin in your mind? i don t really wanna even think of what i was doing in my mind but i was i was wanting to do something. two hours later, the jurors returned. but nothing had changed. a mistrial is declared. unbelievable. veteran prosecutors who d never had a hung jury before, were now 0 for 2. again, the state didn t hesitate. seth techel would go on tr
door saying that he wanted out of there. and we were in tears. a lot of us because we knew that we were up against a wall, that nothing else could be done with this person. after weeks of testimony and three full days of deliberations, the seth techel murder trial came to a sudden conclusion today. it was all over. the motion for a mistrial is hereby granted. the judge declared a mistrial because of a hung jury. hung jury? punch to the gut, andy? you ever have one? well, i never had one in almost 30 years. prosecutors immediately decided to retry the case. the vote had been ten to two for conviction. of course we re disappointed in what happened. the caldwells had lost a daughter and sister and, now, they couldn t even get the closure they desperately wanted. and they d have to do it all over again. it s hard to know that you re gonna have to endure another one. a trial date was set for seven months later, october 2013. and trial number two
you could hear us sniffling a little. as the jury filed out, defense attorney steve gardner rose, to scold the spectators. stop the over-the-top outbursts, he said, or he d demand a mistrial in fairness to his client. i do not desire this jury to be influenced by the public. now, it was the prosecutors turn to seethe. the defense is making a speech about the caldwell family trying to somehow influence the jury, which we thought was ludicrous. i squeezed andy s arm, and i said i ll take this. to stand up here and suggest that anyone in the courtroom is trying or attempting to intentionally influence the jury is absolute nonsense. the courtroom started to settle down and clear. but seth remained at the defense table, his former father-in-law coiled behind him, ready to pounce. i was just praying, please just let me stand here.