BENTONVILLE — Jurors couldn't reach a verdict in a rape case Friday, setting up a second trial in September.
Brian Brandolini, 41, of Bentonville was charged with five counts of rape, a Class Y felony; and three counts of sexual assault in the second degree, a Class B felony.
Brandolini, dressed in a blue shirt and brown pants, spent portions of Friday in a holding cell or talking with his attorneys while jurors deliberated.
He faced a possible life sentence if convicted of the rape charges.
Jurors deliberated for almost eight hours before returning to the courtroom to tell Circuit Judge Brad Karren they reached an impasse. The jury foreman told Karren the panel voted 7 to 5, but didn't specify which way jurors were leaning.
“We feel that with the evidence presented, that this is where we will remain,” the foreman said.
The foreman also said the panel voted earlier Friday morning and the vote was similar.
“I think you have done the best you could do and I am going to find it is a mistrial,” Karren said.
Karren set Brandolini’s second trial to begin Sept. 10. A pre-trial hearing is set for 8:30 a.m Sept. 9.
Brandolini was arrested Aug. 25. He was first taken into custody in Bakersfield, Calif., and later taken to the Benton County Jail.
A 17-year-old girl and her mother went to the Bentonville Police Department on Aug. 8 and said Brandolini sexually abused the girl between 2005 and 2010, according to court documents.
The girl testified during the trial. Her mother also testified during the proceedings. She told jurors Brandolini told her he was sorry for touching the girl and for making her touch him. The mother said she and her daughter confronted Brandolini at his home and attacked him before reporting the allegations to police.
Brandolini testified and denied touching the girl in a sexual manner. He claimed he left for California to visit his daughters and wasn’t evading police.
Brandolini also was charged with sexual indecency with a child in connection with a 2003 allegation involving the same girl, but the girl recanted the claim. The jury didn't have to decide that charge because Karren dismissed it since the statute of limitations had run out.
Brandolini said one of the girl’s relatives attacked and beat him after the 2003 allegation. Brandolini didn't report either attack to police.
The Prosecutor’s Office recused from the case because Brandolini’s mother works in the county’s judicial system. The case was handled by deputy prosecutors from Washington County.
“We believe our victim,” Tara Stephenson, deputy prosecutor, said. “We stand behind her 100 percent. We are ready to try this case again.”
Rogers attorney Drew Miller, representing Brandolini, declined to comment.
Brandolini was being held in the Benton County Jail on $50,000, but Karren granted a motion from Miller to reduce the bond to $25,000.