A mistrial was declared Thursday in the second-degree assault trial of a town of Rutland man after Jefferson County Court Judge Kim H. Martusewicz determined the jury was “hopelessly deadlocked.”

Andrew A. Wren, 24, was on trial facing an accusation he punched Colby D. Roy, 26, Watertown, in the face Nov. 24, 2011, at Mr. Wren’s residence at 18799 County Route 162. Mr. Roy sustained a broken jaw and lost several teeth.

Mr. Roy maintained he was “sucker-punched” without provocation by Mr. Wren, who countered he was acting in self-defense. Mr. Roy had gone to the Wren residence to speak with his estranged wife, who had moved in with Mr. Wren about a month earlier.

After a total of about seven hours of deliberation over two days, the jury sent a note to Judge Martusewicz that read, in part, “We are deadlocked”.

The district attorney’s office must now decide whether it will retry the case or see if an alternative disposition can be reached.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer