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Judge calls mistrial after TV station airs footage of jurors

Bobby J. Tallent-photo Norton police. Courtesy Salina Post.
Bobby J. Tallent-photo Norton police. Courtesy Salina Post.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A mistrial has been declared in a Kansas murder trial after a Nebraska television station aired footage of people in the jury pool.

A judge put a stop Tuesday to the trial of 37-year-old Bobby Tallent after Nebraska TV showed footage Monday night of prospective jurors waiting to be questioned.

The Kearney, Nebraska, station said on its website that it wouldn’t have filmed or aired the video if it had known potential jurors were in the hallway where its reporter had received permission to stand.

Prosecutors allege that Tallent killed 47-year-old Joseph Sweet, whose body was found in March 2015 in a park in the western Kansas town of Norton. Tallent was arrested near the Nebraska border after a pursuit in which shots were fired at officers.

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