Mistrial declared for ex-Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing in shooting of black motorist

CINCINNATI, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A mistrial was declared after the jury in the murder trial of former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

The jury concluded without a verdict after 25 hours of deliberation, including two hours on Saturday, as they informed Judge Megan Shanahan they were unable to achieve a unanimous decision in the 2015 shooting death of Sam DuBose, according to WCPO.

Tensing, 26, had previously been indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter after body camera footage called into question his claim that DuBose had dragged him with his vehicle for several feet before he shot him in the head.

During the four-day deliberation the jury had been instructed to consider a murder charge before moving on to voluntary manslaughter but were unable to come to a unanimous decision on either charge, WLWT reported.

Tensing's bond was continued, as the next court date for the trial was set for Nov. 28 at 9 a.m.

Defense attorney Stew Mathews said Prosecutor Joe Deters tried to paint Tensing as a racist by questioning his record of giving a the highest amount of citations on the force including 82 percent to black motorists and submitting a Confederate flag t-shirt worn by Tensing into evidence to bolster a weak case.

"When you don't have a good case, you create a smokescreen," he said.

Civil rights attorney Al Gelhardstein said DuBose's family was "incredibly disappointed" by the outcome "and they certainly want another trial," which would involve starting over with a new jury.

The current jury was finalized on Oct. 31 and consists of six white men, four white women and two black women.