Judges and Judiciary
Nov. 16, 2026
Mistrial declared in case involving threats against Judge Breyer
Jurors could not agree whether a man's violent emails to a federal court constituted criminal threats, despite his admission that he sent them. Former prosecutors say the defense may have raised doubts about whether the threats were serious.
A federal judge declared a mistrial after an Oakland jury deadlocked over whether a man who threatened to skin Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer had committed a crime or merely engaged in inflammatory rhetoric.
U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar declared the mistrial after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict against David Brooks Pokorny of El Cerrito, who was charged with threatening a federal judicial officer and transmitting a threat across state lines....
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