Frank Nucera, a former police chief in New Jersey, walked out of court without a conviction Wednesday after his hate crime retrial ended without a verdict. 

PREVIOUS: Hate Crime Retrial Begins for Former New Jersey Office Frank Nucera Jr. 

According to the Associated Press, a federal judge declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the trial for Nucera. The former Bordentown, NJ, police chief was facing one count each of hate crime assault and deprivation of civil rights.  

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He was accused of slamming the head of Timothy Stroye, a Black man, into a doorjamb in 2016 while the man was being escorted from a hotel. This is the second trial for Nucera. In 2019, a different jury also could not reach a verdict on the hate crime charge, but they found him guilty of lying to the FBI and he spent 28 months in prison.  

Nucera’s attorney, Rocco Cipparone, said the jury’s inability to convict his client “confirms what we always contended: that there is substantial reasonable doubt as to the allegations that Mr. Nucera used excessive force on Mr. Stroye, did so because of his race, or that he even physically struck Mr. Stroye at all.”  

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Cipparone hopes the government will not choose another retrial in the case, but the U.S. attorney’s office has not said if they will pursue a third trial, according to AP.  

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