The assault trial of a community activist arrested during a University of Colorado Board of Regents meeting last year ended in a hung jury Thursday in Adams County.
After hearing four days of testimony, the 12-member jury deliberated about five hours before telling Adams County District Judge Katherine Delgado it would not be able to reach a unanimous decision.
Delgado released the jury and scheduled a retrial for May 8.
Shareef Aleem was arrested Feb. 3, 2005, during a regents meeting at CU’s Fitzsimons campus.
The meeting turned noisy and disruptive during discussion of CU professor Ward Churchill and his contentious views of the Americans who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.
Aleem was charged with ripping off police officer Greg Barthlome’s badge, then grabbing him by the throat. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree assault on a peace officer, which carries the potential of 16 years in prison.
Defense attorney Wazir al-Haqq refused to comment. Aleem could not be reached Thursday.
