photo by: Nick Gerik

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St.

The criminal trial process will start over again for one of two former Haskell Indian Nations University students accused of rape, a judge declared Monday morning.

After four days of testimony and several hours in the deliberation room, jurors told Douglas County District Court Judge Paula Martin they would not be able to reach a unanimous verdict in the case.

Martin declared a mistrial and scheduled the suspect, age 20, for another court date — 2 p.m. on June 30 — at which his new trial will be scheduled.

The suspect faces two felony counts of rape and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy. The second suspect, age 21, faces felony counts of aiding and abetting attempted rape and two counts of rape; his trial is scheduled to begin July 25.

The two suspects are accused of raping a 19-year-old Haskell freshman in their dormitory room in the early-morning hours of Nov. 15, 2014. Both were arrested that day and later released from jail after posting a $75,000 bond each. They were also expelled from Haskell.

The trial for the 20-year-old defendant began on June 13.

The woman accusing the two suspects testified that the 21-year-old suspect began kissing her against her will after a night of drinking and partying and that when she called for help, the 20-year-old suspect held her down and the two raped her. The three have been acquainted since middle school, according to testimony in the case. Prosecutor Catherine Decena argued that the incident was one of brutal betrayal. Defense attorney Sarah Swain, however, said the sexual encounter was consensual and that the woman afterward accused the suspects of rape for reasons unknown.

A nurse testified that she found bruising on the woman when she came to the hospital hours after the incident. The defense questioned the lack of usable photographic evidence of the injuries and also questioned other evidence-collecting techniques by police in the case.

During closing statements Swain argued that the evidence failed to prove the suspect’s guilt. Prosecutor Mark Simpson, however, argued that the witnesses’ accounts largely matched the woman’s story, supporting the criminal charges.

Jurors began deliberating the case Friday afternoon and told Martin they would be unable to reach a unanimous verdict late Monday morning.