What to Know
- A mistrial has been declared in the sexual assault trial of a former New Jersey church pastor, NJ.com reports
- Hudson County jurors reported a deadlock Friday and were asked to keep deliberating, but were unable to reach a unanimous decision Tuesday
- Gregorio Martinez, 50, is accused of assaulting an 18-year-old man; Martinez is already serving terms in assault and bail-jumping cases
A mistrial has been declared in the sexual assault trial of a former New Jersey church pastor who is already serving prison terms in assault and bail-jumping cases.
NJ.com reports that Hudson County jurors reported a deadlock Friday and were asked to keep deliberating, but told the judge Tuesday they were unable to reach a unanimous decision.
Prosecutors said they would retry 50-year-old Gregorio Martinez, who is accused of assaulting an 18-year-old man. Defense attorney Daniel Gonzalez argued that no evidence corroborated the allegations.
"I was disappointed because there was no evidence other than the alleged victim in the case," Gonzalez said of the mistrial, according to NJ.com. "On cross examination, there were clear inconsistencies in his trial testimony and his original statement. There's no question that the trial testimony was embellished."
Martinez, a native of the Dominican Republic and a former Pentecostal preacher in North Bergen, was convicted in February 2015 of molesting a 13-year-old boy. He fled, was apprehended in Honduras in August 2016, and was sentenced to five years for jumping bail and four years in the assault.
