Mistrial declared in teacher's molestation trial

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A judge declared a mistrial this afternoon in a former Upland teacher's molestation case, after a jury declared it was "hopelessly deadlocked" following three days of deliberations.

In all four counts filed against former Valencia Elementary School teacher James Andrew Megaw, a majority of jurors favored not guilty verdicts, a juror said in an interview.

For count one, eight jurors favored acquittal and four favored a guilty verdict. For count two, the split was nine to three. For counts three and four, the split was 10 to two.

[Editor's note on July 19, 2010: This juror was apparently mistaken when he said the jury favored acquittal on all four counts. Another juror said in a subsequent interview that on count one, eight jurors voted for guilt. Attorneys in the case confirmed that the jury favored guilt on count one.]

"There wasn't enough evidence presented in trial that convicted me beyond a reasonable doubt" that Megaw was guilty, said the juror, who declined to give his name.

Five children testified in Megaw's monthlong trial that the former head of Upland's teachers union touched them sexually during school hours in classrooms filled with other students.

A sixth child said Megaw, 43, made a lewd comment to him in a school bathroom.

In the defense portion of the case, several of Megaw's former colleagues and other people took the witness stand and said they didn't believe the charges were true.

Several teachers and parent volunteers who observed Megaw's class testified that they never saw the Rancho Cucamonga man have any inappropriate contact with students.

After Judge Michael A. Sachs declared a mistrial, he scheduled a new pre-trial hearing for June 4 in West Valley Superior Court.

Because Megaw wasn't acquitted, prosecutors can try him again for the charges on which jurors deadlocked.

Reached after the hearing, Megaw's prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson, declined to comment.

He said he spent the afternoon reviewing police reports in another case that he filed after a mistrial was declared in Megaw's case.

"I really haven't had time to switch gears, so I really don't want to comment," Anderson said.

The juror who granted an interview after the hearing said that at the very start of jury deliberations Monday, two jurors said they felt strongly that Megaw was innocent.

"It was very obvious that we weren't going to get a conviction because of those two people," the juror said.

A lack of physical evidence plus an absence of eyewitnesses to the alleged abuse made it difficult to come to a guilty verdict, the juror said.

"It was a tough, difficult, difficult decision to make," he said.