Another Mistrial for Powell

For the second time in 6 months, a judge declared a mistrial Monday after a jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case of a man criminally charged for his best friend's drunken driving accident.

After about 14 hours of deliberations over three days, the jury was hung on the fate of Kenneth Powell, 41, of Pennsville.

He was charged with vehicular homicide and aggravated assault in a July 22, 2000, drunken driving crash involving best friend Michael Pangle.

In a note to Superior Court Judge William Forrester, the jurors said they were "hopelessly deadlocked." The jury said their repeated votes were split down the middle by one or two votes each time.

Assistant Salem County Prosecutor Michael Ostroski said no decision had been made yet whether to try Powell for a third time.

He faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Powell, 41, was alternately portrayed as a "blind Good Samaritan" or a criminally ignorant accomplice for his connection to the crash, which occurred less than an hour after Pangle was released following a DUI arrest.

Pangle, 37, of Woodstown, crossed a center line in his SUV, colliding with a car driven by Ensign John R. Elliott, 22, a recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Pangle and Elliott died at the scene; Elliott's girlfriend survived.

Prosecutors charged Powell because he picked Pangle up from the State Police barracks in Bridgeton -- where Pangle had been charged with DUI -- and drove him back to his vehicle instead of taking him home.

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