Mistrial Declared for Whitewater Figure
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the state case against Whitewater figure David Hale, saying Hale’s prolonged hospitalization had placed an unreasonable burden on jurors.
Circuit Judge David Bogard scheduled jury selection for a new trial for July 8.
Hale, 56, remained hospitalized, a week after he complained of chest pains about an hour before opening arguments were to start. His attorney said he was scheduled to leave the hospital Monday.
Hale is charged with lying to state insurance regulators about the solvency of a burial-insurance company the state says he owned.
Hale’s lawyer, David Bowden, argued against the mistrial.
Prosecutor Larry Jegley sought the mistrial because one of his witnesses cannot return from Africa to Arkansas until July.
Hale was one of the main witnesses in the 1996 Whitewater trial of then-Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and James B. and Susan McDougal. All three were convicted.
The McDougals were President Clinton’s business partners.
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