Athens judge declares mistrial in Gwinnett Co case

A mistrial has been declared by Athens Judge David Sweat in the courthouse hacking case involving a Gwinnett County judge.

Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Tony Thomas said Superior Court Judge Kathryn Schrader walked out of court without comment as she remains suspended from the bench on charges that she hired three men to hack into the county computer system amid fears the district attorney's office was spying on her.

After the mistrial, the jury foreperson, Rachel Steahr, told Thomas she was frustrated because basically the evidence didn’t provide any clear answers to what happened.

“There was a lot of evidence and it was really good, but either side it wasn't strong enough. They needed more since they didn’t come to a conclusion of how this happened,” Steahr said.

She said a majority of jurors thought Schrader was not guilty on count one of computer trespassing, were split on the second charge and wanted to convict on the third charge.

Prosecutors said they are now trying to figure out if they want to retry this case.

“We are going to continue to reevaluate the case. We are going to be in discussion with the executive director and make a decision,” prosecutor John Regan said.

Schrader’s attorney maintains her client is innocent.

“I'm always relieved when it's clear our message was heard. She is not guilty,” said defense attorney BJ Bernstein.

Prosecutors said it remains unclear when they may retry the case, but they are hoping to make it happen sooner rather than later.