Judge Declares Mistrial in Nursing Home Sex Assault Case

By Joe Vince

A mistrial was declared in the September 2011 sexual assault case of a 92-year-old woman at a Crystal Lake nursing home by an employee of the facility, the Chicago Tribune reports.

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The judge made his ruling after opening statements and the testimony of the first witness in the trial of Angelo Bird, who is charged with criminal sexual assault of the Crystal Pines Rehabilitation and Health Care Center resident, according to the Tribune. The reason for the judge’s decision: The first witness made references to a polygraph test that was not allowed to be mentioned in front of the jury, the report stated. However, dismissed jurors were heard after the trial admitting they did not hear or understand that the witness was talking about the polygraph.

Defense lawyers for Bird, now 25, claim he was coerced into making a false confession after Crystal Lake police interrogated him, the Tribune reports.

Bird’s new trial is scheduled for November, according to the report.