Mistrial declared after jury deadlocks in teacher's attempted murder trial

FONTANA -- A judge declared a mistrial this afternoon in the trial of a former Garey High School teacher accused of sneaking into his estranged wife's home and trying to strangle her.

The mistrial in Augustine Anene's case came after jurors said they were deadlocked in their deliberations.

The jury convicted Anene of only one of the five counts filed by prosecutors. The guilty verdict was for the least serious charge -- a misdemeanor for violating a restraining order obtained by Anene's wife.

Prosecutors will now have the option of retrying Anene on the four remaining counts, which are all felonies. The charges include attempted murder, burglary, false imprisonment and assault.

"I don't know what we're going to do at this time," said Deputy District Attorney Tonya Cole. "Obviously we'll try to resolve it if we can."

Prosecutors accused Anene, 54, of hiding in his wife's bedroom closet on March 29 in his family's Fontana home, and emerging to attack her after she fell asleep.

Anene moved out of the home in January after his wife of 19 years obtained a restraining order requiring him to stay away from her.

The alleged attack was interrupted by the couple's 18-year-old son, who kicked open his mother's locked bedroom door and restrained his father.

Anene, who testified during the trial, claimed he snuck into the house because he felt it was the best way to gain access to his wife.

But he wanted only to talk to her to try to repair their marriage, not attack her, according to his attorney, Gina Kershaw.

Kershaw said she and Anene were disappointed by the result because they had hoped for an acquittal.

"I thought we had a really good case," she said.

Seven out of 12 jurors favored acquittal on the attempted murder charge. For the other three felonies, the jury favored guilt. On two of the counts the tally was 8-4, and on the other it was 9-3.

"I believe we've done what we can," the jury forewoman told Judge Cara D. Hutson.

Kershaw said she didn't think Anene was willing to take a plea bargain. She said Anene wasn't interested before his trial in a plea bargain, instead deciding on "putting his faith in the jury."

Anene is due back in Fontana Superior Court on Sept. 17 for a pre-trial hearing. A tentative trial date was set for Sept. 27.

Anene was employed by the Pomona Unified School District for 18 years. At the time of his arrest he worked as a computer instructor at Garey High School. He resigned his position after his arrest.