HEBER CITY — A judge has declared a mistrial in the child sex abuse case against an Ogden therapist because one prospective juror "couldn't keep their mouth shut" and may have tainted half the jury pool.
It's the second time this year that jury issues have forced Judge Roger Griffin to prematurely end a trial in the case against Brian P. Gomez.
"Remember from World II, World War I, we had those posters that said, 'Loose lips sink ships?' That's exactly what happened yesterday was loose lips sunk the ship," Griffin said Tuesday morning as he explained his decision to declare a mistrial to the prospective jurors who still remained in his courtroom.
"We still tried to make it to port, and we were unable to do so," Griffin continued.
Wasatch County prosecutor Mckay King said Griffin had ordered half of the 125 prospective jurors in the case to appear Monday morning for the selection process. The other half was ordered to appear Monday afternoon.
King said the issue that derailed the trial arose when a prospective juror in the morning session — in violation of a court order — began discussing information about the case against Gomez in front of other prospective jurors.
Because Griffin and the attorneys on both sides had no way to know how many people heard the person's remarks, the judge decided to dismiss half the jury pool to ensure Gomez's right to a fair trial. Griffin withheld that information from those in the afternoon session in hopes that a panel of eight jurors and two alternates could still be seated.
"We worked really hard on that," Griffin said in court Tuesday. "Unfortunately, we were not able to get enough of you to be able to move forward."
Griffin said he reached that decision after meeting with prosecutors and defense attorneys in chambers Tuesday morning to review the questionnaires completed by the prospective jurors. During that review, Griffin said, it was agreed there wasn't enough of a "cushion" to make it possible to seat an impartial jury.
"While one of you may have caused a problem, 124 of you acted appropriately and I can't thank you enough," Griffin said.
Tuesday's ruling marked the second time Griffin has had to dismiss prospective jurors and declare a mistrial in Gomez's case. An attempt to hold a trial in February ended unsuccessfully because too many of the prospective jurors knew people associated with the case or had other issues that prevented them from being impaneled, King said.
Griffin has scheduled a Wednesday phone conference with prosecutors and defense attorneys to discuss setting a new trial date and the possibility that the trial will need to be moved out of Wasatch County.
Gomez, 41, is charged with six counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child, a first-degree felony. He is accused of sexually abusing two girls during a Dec. 31, 2013, stay at a hotel in Midway.
The girls stayed in Gomez's suite while their parents, who were longtime friends with Gomez, went back to their own hotel room, according to court records. The girls' father received a text message from one of his daughters about 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, stating: "I think Bryan is a pedifile (sic) and I'm kind (of) scared." The father didn't see the text, however, until 8:45 a.m.
The next day, the girls disclosed that Gomez had touched them under their pajamas, charging documents state.
Gomez, a clinical social worker who promotes himself as having expertise in working with children who have autism, has maintained his innocence throughout the case. He is free on bail and has agreed to surrender his license to the state while awaiting trial.
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