Here’s why the jury deadlocked in a Kennewick teacher sex abuse case

It came down to a phone call.

After weeks of testimony and several days of deliberation, a Benton County jury last week cleared the Kennewick School District of negligence in the alleged abuse of two former students by a longtime teacher.

But the jury was split on the district’s culpability when it came to two other former students allegedly molested by William “Bill” Pickerel, one of the jurors told the Herald.

The split hinged on a phone call made by a parent to the Kennewick High principal at the time, the juror said.

“Timing was a big issue in our discussions,” the juror said, adding that the eight women and four men on the jury ended up “so far apart” that reaching a decision wasn’t possible.

A mistrial on those two claims was declared. It’s unclear if the cases will be retried.

In all, 15 former students sued Kennewick schools in Benton County Superior Court, saying the district knew or should have know that Pickerel was a danger and that it didn’t do enough to protect them.

The case was broken up into four separate trials. The one that wrapped up last week was the first to make it to a jury.

Another trial ended in an undisclosed settlement last year. Two more haven’t yet been scheduled.

The phone call was made in the ’90s by a parent concerned about sleeping arrangements on a trip her son took with Pickerel. The teacher slept in the same bed as the boy.

Pickerel, who spent most of his career at Kennewick High, was known for taking students on private trips to events such as Mariners games. The trips weren’t organized or sanctioned by the school district.

The call was an important part of the former students’ case. It was pointed to as evidence that the district knew of troubling behavior by Pickerel, who pleaded guilty years later to abusing five Tri-City boys on overnight trips to the Seattle area and admitted to molesting many others over his career.

It ended up resonating with the jury.

Two of the former students allegedly were abused on trips that happened before that phone call was made. In those cases, the jury felt negligence wasn’t proven and decided 10-2 to clear the district, said the juror who spoke with the Herald. At least 10 of the 12 jurors must agree in a civil case.

The two other former students allegedly were abused on trips that happened after the phone call, and the jury was evenly split on the district’s culpability.

Half felt the district bore some responsibility, said the juror who spoke to the Herald. “Because the parent called the school and the school didn’t take appropriate action, (the feeling was that) the school didn’t do due diligence,” the juror said.

But, “the other half said that the complaint (from the parent) was so vague and anonymous that it would be difficult for the school to follow through,” the juror said.

Jurors worked hard to reach a decision, the juror said. They talked, asked questions and took multiple votes, but couldn’t find consensus.

The case weighed on them. “It was nerve-wracking. The jurors were not sleeping at night. Some of them were having nightmares. It was a very difficult process,” the juror said.

Had jurors determined the district was negligent, they also would have had to decide on possible damages. The former students’ attorneys suggested at least $1 million each.

Reached Friday, school district attorney Michael McFarland said the jury was “one of the most hard-working I’ve ever seen.”

The district is pleased to be cleared of negligence in two of the claims and “obviously thinks the decision in that regard was the right one,” he said.

The district also is “very appreciative of all the hard work (the jury) put in on the other two,” McFarland said.

Attorneys for the former students couldn’t be reached Friday.

Pickerel joined the Kennewick School District in 1960. He retired in 1998, but continued substitute teaching until his arrest in 2007.

He served a little more than half of his 10-year prison sentence, released in 2014 on good behavior.

Now 82, he lives in Seattle as a Level III sex offender.

This story was originally published March 31, 2018 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Here’s why the jury deadlocked in a Kennewick teacher sex abuse case."