In the area’s first criminal trial in months, a Cullman County jury could not reach a verdict Wednesday in the first degree rape case of a Hanceville man, resulting in a hung jury and automatic retrial for defendant Wade Allen Waldrop.

Jurors deliberated for close to 8 hours after both sides rested their cases early in the day Wednesday, with Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas retaining the jury after hours in the hope of a verdict before the panel came back with word that its members could not reach a consensus on Waldrop’s guilt or innocence. Around 6 p.m., the jury informed the court that it was at an impasse.

Waldrop, 43, was standing trial for the alleged rape of a then-underaged female, who appeared this week in court to testify during the trial. He was indicted by a Grand Jury in 2018 on the single charge of first degree rape in connection with the case. He was arrested in December of 2017 in connection with the alleged abuse of three minor-age victims, and was initially charged with rape, sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, and enticing a child for immoral purposes. 

Freed on bond on the rape charge, Waldrop was later arrested on a separate allegation, and had been awaiting his day in court while housed in the Cullman County Detention Center. A new trial date for Waldrop will be set on a future Circuit Court criminal trial docket.