Inadmissible information slipped past a software program before the jury.
A software glitch resulted in mistrial Thursday for Jovon D. Jones.
It happened less than an hour before the prosecution expected to rest in the murder case.
Jones, 30, was on trial in York County court for the May 16, 2011, murder of his Fahs Street next door neighbor, 42-year-old Alesia Martin.
In day four of his trial, the prosecution had been showing videos of Jones' statements to police, which were recorded at the York City Police Department days after Martin was found fatally stabbed in her home.
As one of the final videos wound down, Jones and Detective Jeffrey Spence were heard discussing a prior burglary investigation in which Jones was cleared of any wrongdoing.
But that bit information before the jury was enough for the trial to be called to halt. Assistant public defender James Rader discussed the options with Jones, who opted for a mistrial.
"I feel like I'm ready to vomit," Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Barker said.
Barker said the software was programmed to redact specific portions of the video that were inadmissible at trial, including the information about the burglary investigation.
Barker said he and his trial team had reviewed the video repeated times and the software had always worked correctly.
Barker said he did not know why the software missed what he called a "one-second snippet."
Judge John S. Kennedy, who had presided over the
trial, granted the mistrial.
"If I knew (what happened,) I'd know what to do about it," Barker said of the software glitch.
The police videos offered as evidence had shown Spence and Detective George Ripley slowly chipping away at Jones' story. Jones went from denying any participation in the crime to admitting he had anger issues.
In the video, shown earlier during pre-trial motions over evidence, Jones eventually confesses to the murder.
Barker said he did not know how long it would take to get the case back on the trial docket.
