Hung jury declared in trial of man in road deaths of two people
A jury has been declared hung in the trial of a Brainerd man arrested in December for the deaths of two people in a car accident in St. Mathias Township.
The defendant, Anthony Dano, 41, 9419 50th Ave. S.E., was arrested on charges of criminal vehicular operation and misdemeanor DUI after his 1998 Dodge pickup collided with 1988 Plymouth Sundance at County Roads 45 and 131, killing driver Michael Haukom, 32, Deerwood and his nephew, Dustin Briley, 6.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reported Dano's blood alcohol level was .19.
Crow Wing County charged Dano with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, one count of criminal vehicular operation and one count of misdemeanor DWI.
In February Dano pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
In the July trial that ended Wednesday, court documents reported the jury found Dano guilty of DWI, not guilty of criminal vehicular operation and could not come to a decision on the two counts of criminal vehicular homicide.
A unanimous verdict must be found considering all charges, thus the jury was declared hung.
A hung jury can be declared by the court when the 12 jurors do not render the same verdict.
The trial has been rescheduled for Oct. 10.
On Dec. 18, Dano was northbound on County Road 45 and failed to yield to the southbound Haukom vehicle as Dano tried to turn onto County Road 131.
As a result of the crash, Haukom's vehicle left the roadway and collided into the residence of William Austin.
Haukom's wife, Dana Haukom, 24, who was also a passenger in the vehicle, suffered a broken arm in the accident.