ESPN News Services
A mistrial was declared Friday in the child sex abuse case against former Texas Rangers pitcher John Wetteland.
The jury in Denton County (Texas) insisted it was deadlocked to the judge, who ruled on the mistrial after a day of deliberations.
Wetteland had been accused of abusing a child for two years starting in 2004 when the boy was 4 years old. He was facing three charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child and the possibility of life in prison if convicted.
It was not immediately clear if prosecutors planned to retry the case.
Wetteland was a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos and New York Yankees, with whom he was crowned the 1996 World Series MVP. Wetteland subsequently joined the Rangers in 1997. He retired after the 2000 season but stuck around to coach for a few years before spending time on the Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners staffs.
Rangers officials said the team was no longer associated with Wetteland after the allegations were made public in 2019. He had been inducted into the team’s hall of fame in 2005.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.