GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Following a hung jury on the question of perjury charges, James Chance will not be facing a second trial.
Kent County prosecutors are declining to seek a retrail for Chance, who was found guilty earlier this month for being an accessory after the fact in the dismemberment of Ashley Young.
In December, his son Jared Chance was sentenced to 100 to 200 years in prison for Young’s death and dismemberment at his Grand Rapids apartment in 2018.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced in a statement, “I have decided that we will not re-try James Chance for the remaining perjury offense.”
That decision was announced by the prosecutors office on Friday, January 24th, as uncertaintly loomed over whether they would seek Chance back in court after a jury failed to reach a verdict on a second count of perjury. The jury decided previously that Chance was not guilty of the first count of perjury.
Becker said that because both counts of perjury offered to the jury were based off of the same testimony from Chance, a conviction would be unlikely during a retrial. If convicted of perjury James Chance could have possibly served the remainder of his life in prison.
Chance faces a maximum of six months in jail for the accessory charge, and is allowed to remain free on bond until his sentencing on March 11th.
