Hung Jury, Mistrial for Former Cop Patrick Tuter

A mistrial was declared Monday in the manslaughter trial of a former Garland police officer accused of firing 41 shots at a car chase suspect.

The Garland Police Department fired Officer Patrick Tuter and a Dallas County Grand Jury indicted him for the 2012 death of 25-year-old Michael Vincent Allen.

After a week-long trial, jurors told the judge they were hopelessly deadlocked on the second day of deliberation Monday and the judge released them.

Michael Allen's father, Randy Allen, left disappointed Monday after waiting four years for what he considers justice.

“I’m lost for words right now. Don’t know what to say. Just keep trying,” Allen said. “It’s been horrible, horrible.”

Special Prosecutor Juan Sanchez said Michael Allen broke the law, but the officer crossed the line of acceptable behavior.

“We wanted to leave it up to the Dallas County citizens to decide how they want their community to be policed,” Sanchez said. “We just felt that the officer went too far in this case. Forty-one shots was a lot and it was excessive.”

During the trial, other officers testified that they were in fear because of Tuter’s conduct. But Tuter, 36, took the stand in his own defense and told jurors he was trying to protect himself, other officers and the public from Michael Allen, who drove more than 100 mph at times in the chase.

“Every shot that was fired was to end the threat, and once the threat was over he stopped firing, and that’s what the law allows him to do,” said defense attorney Robert Rogers. “He did what he was trained and what his job was to do. He did it because he wanted to live and he hopes they dismiss the case.”

Sanchez said he will decide after the holidays whether a second jury should hear the case.

“At the retrial you get 12 totally different people who see the evidence – the same evidence this jury saw – and may come up with a different result. We don’t know if we’re going to retry it yet. My inclination is to retry it again,” Sanchez said.

Tuter is one of three Dallas County police officers to face criminal charges for suspect deaths in the past four years. The others are also still pending.

“Police officers are given a lot of leeway and when you prosecute them, it’s very difficult,” Sanchez said.