Dancer re-trial continued until fall session

William Dancer’s re-trial for allegedly embezzling more than $400,000 from his former employer was continued until the fall jury term, which begins Sept. 1.

Dancer will be tried again after a weeklong trial in March ended in a hung jury. After 13 hours of deliberations, two of the 12 jurors did not want to convict Dancer.

Dancer allegedly opened an unauthorized bank account in his employer’s name and shuffled between his bank accounts money from six deposited customer checks collectively worth over $400,000.

His former employer, Independence Home Center Inc., a Sagle, Idaho-based manufactured home supplier, caught on to the alleged activity in October 2006 when a homebuyer complained that she had given Dancer, Libby’s branch manager, a check for nearly $98,000 and months later, still didn’t have her home.

Dancer’s defense claimed that he deposited homebuyers’ checks into his accounts to pay business expenses that his company wouldn’t reimburse him for and that IHC was shorting him on his sales commissions. His defense maintained that it was a business dispute, not criminal action.