A Marion County jury trial for a Vernon woman charged with arson ended quickly on Thursday when a mistrial was declared while the first juror was being questioned to be put on the panel.
Instead of giving a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer as instructed, the juror reportedly asked a question including information about 50-year-old Misty Podergois of Farthing Road who was going to be tried for arson.
The answer was heard by the 55 jurors who had been summoned to the courthouse for jury duty. Since they had all been tainted, they were dismissed and the trial was rescheduled for June 29th.
The arson case involved a fire allegedly set to damage a pickup truck in Centralia in March 2022.
