A deadlocked jury resulted in a mistrial this week in the case against a Durango man suspected of starting a fire inside south City Market in 2019.
The jury deliberated for three hours before 6th Judicial District Judge Suzanne Carlson declared a mistrial in the arson case against Bradley Clark, 52.
District Attorney Sean Murray said the outcome was not all that unusual. The law requires the judge to ask jurors if there is potential for progress before instructing them to continue deliberations. If jurors indicate there is no potential, it could be considered coercive for the court to tell them to continue, Murray said.
The case was prosecuted by Murray and Deputy District Attorney Vance Davis.
Murray said his office is still considering whether to retry the case. He plans to consult with City Market before moving forward.
The prosecution said Clark intentionally set fire to a plastic bag of chips in aisle 7 of City Market, causing more than $76,000 in damages.
Jurors began deliberating around 11:30 a.m. Thursday after closing arguments, during which prosecutors and a defense lawyer offered wildly different accounts of the events leading up to the fire and the investigation that followed.
Prosecutors said surveillance footage proved Clark was the only person in the right place, at the right time, who could have started the fire.
Defense attorney Randy Canney said the only thing the surveillance footage showed was the presence of several other people in the general vicinity of the fire – any of whom could have started the blaze.
Canney argued a male customer who alerted City Market management to the fire was the more likely suspect and said the other witnesses found him to be “odd and weird.”
Prosecutors characterized the investigation following the fire as methodical and meticulous, while Canney argued it was the exact opposite.
He begged the jury to approach their decision with significantly more care than that shown by law enforcement during their investigation of the crime.
“For the love of God I beg you to be more meticulous that the police were,” Canney said.
Canney declined to comment for this story until a formal decision has been made about a retrial.
A hearing will be held Feb. 28, at which time prosecutors are expected to indicate whether they plan to retry the case.
Clark, a former associate professor at Fort Lewis College, was accused of three Class 4 felonies – attempted first-degree arson, second-degree arson and criminal mischief.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
