A federal judge has declared a mistrial in the case of a Northern California man charged with threatening to kill President Barack Obama and members of his family in an e-mail.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel made the decision after jurors told her Monday they were deadlocked.
Authorities say the 59-year-old John Gimbel sent a profanity-laced e-mail to Obama, White House staff and some media outlets last year threatening the president and his family.
The subject line of the Sept. 28, 2009 e-mail read, in part, "Kill the 'president'... then write 'fed s-' on his chest with a felt tip," according to the indictment. Gimbel was allegedly angry that Obama had not intervened in earlier court cases against him.
He was arrested the following month by the U.S. Secret Service ahead of an appearance by the president in San Francisco.
Gimbel had pleaded not guilty.