After deliberating for more than four hours yesterday the jury of seven women and five men in the election fraud trial of suspended State Court Judge Carlton Vines were unable to reach a verdict.   

Vines was standing trial for allegedly mishandling absentee ballots in the 2006 State Court Judge election in which he defeated Sam Finster.  After Vines was suspended Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Finster to the bench. 

Jurors told local media that there were some on the jury who felt that Vines had been set up and targeted unfairly by the Secretary of State’s office.  One juror told the Rome News Tribune that it was difficult to reconcile differences in the testimony between investigators from the GBI and investigators from the Secretary of State’s office. 

The prosecutors have said that they will re-try the case, perhaps as early as May.  Carlton Vines defense team said that they are ready for a new trial.