Lloyd Bell and David Ladner deliver closings at trial against Agnes Scott College over claims Amanda Hartley was falsely arrested and imprisoned on groundless sexual assault charges. Judge Johnny Panos declared a mistrial in the case Thursday after reports a juror conducted outside research during the trial. Photo provided courtesy of CVN

A judge has declared a mistrial in a lawsuit against Agnes Scott College over a wrongful arrest.

According to the Courtroom View Network, “After a report that a juror performed outside research on the case, DeKalb County State Court Judge Johnny Panos declared a mistrial a day-and-a-half into deliberations on Amanda Hartley’s claim that Agnes Scott College police recklessly investigated a student’s 2009 claim Hartley sexually assaulted her.”

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If the Decatur women’s college loses the suit, it could be on the hook for millions.

In 2009 an Agnes Scott student falsely accused Hartley, a University of Tennessee student, of sexually assaulting her in her dorm room at Agnes Scott. On the basis of those allegations, Hartley was extradited to DeKalb County from Tennessee and held in the jail for three weeks. Hartley provided proof she was in Tennessee at the time of the alleged incident, and prosecutors dropped the charges.

Agnes Scott tried to argue its officers were legally immune from liability over the incident, but in 2014 the state Supreme Court disagreed.

To read the full story on CVN, click here.

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