Did north Fayette man try to grab deputy’s gun?

A north Fayette man accused of trying to take a deputy’s weapon during a scuffle in August walked away from court a free man Wednesday.

A jury was unable to agree on whether Wayne Marshall Williams, 52, was guilty or not of the criminal charge, which is a felony. The jury deliberated for roughly four hours before the foreman told Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English they were unlikely to resolve the issue.

The last vote taken was 8-3 with one juror undecided, the jury foreman said, although he was not asked to say whether the majority was inclined to vote guilty or innocent.

Despite the mistrial, Williams can be retried on the charges if the Fayette County District Attorney’s office chooses to do so.

The incident occurred at Williams’s home on Kite Lake Road just after noon Aug. 25. According to the arrest warrant filed in the case, Williams fought with Dep. James Pitts while Pitts attempted to arrest him for obstruction of a police officer.

In the warrant, Pitts stated that Williams “attempted to pull the weapon” from his holster during the struggle. At one point, Pitts had to push Williams on the ground before he could be successfully handcuffed, the warrant stated.

Moments before declaring the mistrial, the jury had sent Judge English a note asking if they could review a copy of the deputy’s reports connected to the case. But English told him the law doesn’t allow for that to occur.

English then inquired as to the jury’s progress and was informed of the lack of progression in terms of coming to a unanimous vote. At the time, he noted that the jury had deliberated for nearly half as long as the actual trial took.

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