Mistrial declared in Dancer case

District court judge Michael Prezeau declared a mistrial Monday in the William Dancer embezzlement case after jurors were unable to reach a verdict in 13 hours of deliberation spread over two days.

Upon Prezeau’s questioning, jurors said it was a “fairly thin split,” according to clerk of court Patti Noble. The state indicated that it plans on retrying the case.

Dancer was on trial for allegedly opening an unauthorized bank account in his employer’s name and shuffling between his bank accounts money from six deposited customer checks collectively worth over $400,000 in 2005 and 2006. He was charged with money laundering and six counts of embezzling from Independence Home Center Inc., a Sagle, Idaho-based manufactured home supplier.

For more on the Dancer trial, see Wednesday's edition of The Western News.