- Former Utah Senate candidate Brandon Beckham's sexual abuse trial concluded with a hung jury this week.
- The Utah County Attorney's Office plans a retrial in late July.
- Beckham's first trial ended in a mistrial last January after an attorney had issues with Beckham.
PROVO — The sexual abuse trial for a former Utah state Senate candidate ended with a deadlocked jury this week.
Brandon Beckham, 50, faces one felony charge of forcible sexual abuse filed nearly four years ago. According to charging documents, a woman reported a nonconsensual sexual encounter with Beckham to law enforcement in Pleasant Grove in June 2021.
After both prosecutors and the defense presented their case, jurors deliberated for about an hour Tuesday and all day Wednesday, but could not come to a unanimous decision.
"It's not common at all that a jury will hang," said KSL-TV legal analyst and longtime defense attorney Greg Skordas. "They typically come to a conclusion, and in Utah, a jury has to be unanimous, whether it's for guilt or for not guilty."
Skordas said in roughly 200 jury trials he's participated in, only two resulted in a hung jury.
The Utah County Attorney's Office released a statement saying, "We believe we presented a strong evidence of the defendant's guilt. We're obviously disappointed that some of the jurors were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. We're committed to moving forward with the retrial and securing justice for this victim."
The trial, which started on Friday last week, was the second attempt by prosecutors at securing a conviction against Beckham. His first trial ended abruptly in a mistrial last January after a female defense attorney said she was not comfortable with their interactions and did not wish to continue representing him. Beckham denied doing anything inappropriate.
"Nobody wants to try a case a third time. That's very, very rare," said Skordas. "Anytime there's a mistrial and so there's a retrial, it's hard on everyone, especially the victim, but it's hard on all the witnesses, police officers, medical testimony, whoever you have. They've got to gear up; they've got to go through another trial."
While it's unusual, Skordas said this outcome gives both parties insight into how the evidence landed among a jury of Beckham's peers.
"Both sides now know it's a close case, and both sides know that they can maybe do something to make their case stronger so that the jury will be unanimous next time," he said.
KSL-TV was in the courtroom as prosecutors presented key evidence in the case on Monday — a phone call between Beckham and the accuser that investigators got a warrant to record. KSL-TV is not publishing the call in its entirety in an effort to protect the woman's privacy.
"I know I got a little out of hand there. I got a little too wild," Beckham is heard saying during the call. "But it wasn't like it was planned that way. It just happened."
KSL-TV reached out to Beckham and his attorney Thursday. They did not provide a comment as the case remains pending.
Prosecutors said they're planning to take the case to trial again at the end of July.
