DALLAS — The Denton County district attorney’s office said Tuesday that prosecutors will retry former Texas Rangers pitcher John Wetteland’s sexual abuse case, which ended in a mistrial last week.
A relative accused Wetteland, 56, of forcing him to perform a sex act on him three times between 2004 and 2006, beginning when the child was 4 years old. The accuser said the abuse happened in the master bathroom shower of Wetteland’s home in Bartonville, about 10 miles south of Denton.
A jury of nine men and three women deliberated inside the Denton County courthouse for nearly eight hours Friday. Jurors deadlocked 10-2 and a state district judge declared a mistrial. Wetteland’s lawyer, Derek Adame, said most jurors wanted to find his client not guilty.
First Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck said Tuesday that prosecutors plan to move forward with the case, but “whether negotiated plea bargain or retrial will be up to [Wetteland].”
Wetteland is charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. If tried again and convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
“We feel a retrial will greatly favor our side since now we know the entirety of the state’s case, and we look forward to the opportunity to fight the case again if the state decides to go forward with a new trial,” Adame said.
Over three days of testimony, the defense argued that the accuser — who is now 22 years old and lives out of state — was a theatrical, “spoiled brat,” manipulated to lodge false allegations against Wetteland. The Dallas Morning News typically does not identify those alleging sexual assault.
Wetteland, who testified in his defense, said he was the victim of a lie orchestrated by the accuser’s stepfather.
Prosecutors painted the accuser as trustworthy and said he had nothing to gain by coming forward with the accusations. The man’s mother testified that he has never recanted the accusations of sexual abuse.
The accuser testified last week that he didn’t want to involve law enforcement. Instead, he wrote a letter, intended for only immediate family, disclosing the abuse. His mother testified that she encouraged him to write the letter as a means of closure.
An investigation began after the accuser’s high school learned of the abuse allegations in January 2019, according to testimony. District software flagged a letter written in Google Docs linked to the his school-issued email account.
Wetteland spent 12 years in the major leagues, pitching for four teams. He was the 1996 World Series MVP with the New York Yankees and then signed with the Texas Rangers.
He retired after the 2000 season, and his franchise record 150 saves still stands.
Wetteland was elected to the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2005 and held a coaching and front office position with the team in the early 2000s. The club no longer has official ties with him.
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