Second Mistrial For Former San Francisco Crime Lab Tech

Accused cocaine-skimming crime tech has second trial end.

The first time you don't succeed, try, try again. But it remains to be seen if federal prosecutors will try for a third time in the case of the accused drug-skimming crime lab tech.

The second trial of Deborah Madden, the former San Francisco police crime lab technician accused of skimming cocaine and other drugs from the workplace, has ended in a mistrial, according to the Associated Press.

Jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Madden, 62, of San Mateo, obtained "cocaine by fraud, deception, or subterfuge," the AP reported.

Madden was at the center of a scandal that caused hundreds of drug cases to be dropped in 2009 after she was accused of stealing cocaine from the lab, the news source reported. But her first trial ended with a hung jury in October, and state prosecutors declined to press charges after she pleaded no contest to possession of cocaine.

Federal prosecutors have yet to say if they will try again.

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