U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras made the call after White's attorneys pushed him to quickly rule on a pending motion for acquittal. The defense argued prosecutors had offered jurors multiple routes to a bribery conviction that the evidence simply didn't support.
White addressed reporters outside the courthouse after the judge's announcement. "The prosecutors knew, and the FBI knew that they didn't have a strong case," he said. His attorney, Gary Kohlman, has maintained there was never a quid pro quo involved.
The outcome leaves White's political future unsettled. A hung jury means no conviction. It also means no clearance. Prosecutors now have to decide whether to retry the case, drop it, or negotiate some other resolution, a decision that will shape whether White keeps facing this charge while representing his ward.
For a sitting council member, that's neither vindication nor closure, just three days of jurors unable to agree, and a case that isn't over.