BROOKHAVEN, Miss. — Citing errors by police, a Mississippi judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of two white men accused of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver who was making a delivery.

Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Case, are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy, and shooting into the vehicle driven by D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson was not injured, but the chase led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hour south of the state capital, Jackson.

Judge David Strong said he made the mistrial decision because of errors by a Brookhaven Police Department detective. On Wednesday, Detective Vincent Fernando acknowledged under oath while the jury was out of the courtroom that he had not given prosecutors or defense attorneys a videotaped statement police had taken from Gibson.

The judge said Fernando also improperly testified about guns found in the home of one of the men on trial and shell casings found outside. Strong said he had no choice but to grant a mistrial.

Associated Press