No trial date set yet after Yenni's chat with juror leads to mistrial
We are waiting for word on what happens next in a sexual battery trial in Jefferson Parish derailed by a reported conversation between Parish President Mike Yenni and a juror.
WWL TV says the trial was halted almost as soon as it started because Yenni spoke to one of the jurors.
The judge declared a mistrial shortly after jury selection in the case against Rafael Chinchilla.
He is accused of sexual battery of a child under 13.
The TV station reports that after being sworn in, the jury took a lunch break and crossed paths with Yenni.
The report says that the parish president shared a few words with a juror. A bailiff reported the conversation to Judge Adrian Adams.
Yenni was quoted in media reports as saying he knew the juror and was just being congenial and friendly. He says he did not know anything about the trial, the charges or the person on trial.
Video of the encounter shows the discussion with the female juror apparently lasted only a few seconds.
Yenni told the media he joked with the woman that he hoped it wouldn't be a hung jury, but reports sighting sources say he said that it looked like a hung jury.
All of this comes after Yenni was accused in 2016 of an inappropriate sexting relationship and meeting with a teenage boy.