WELLSBURG — After deliberating for nearly three hours on Wednesday, a Brooke County jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on either charge faced by a Steubenville man accused of holding a minor against her will and sexually assaulting her.

After hearing from the jury in the case against 40-year-old Floyd Cochran, 1st Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jason Cuomo noted the Brooke County Prosecutor’s Office could dismiss charges against him or seek a retrial and set a Nov. 13 hearing on the matter.

The judge ordered Cochran could be released from the Northern Regional Jail on a personal recognizance bond while instructing him to return on Nov. 13.

Following the trial, Sean Logue, Cochran’s attorney, said he was happy his client will be able to return home but unhappy the jury didn’t find him innocent of the charges for which he was accused.

Weirton Police arrested Cochran on charges of abducting and second-degree sexual assault, which carry a potential total penalty of 10 to 30 years in prison.

Brooke County Prosecutor Allison Cowden said the alleged victim in the case, who at the time was 16 years old, was offered a ride home by Cochran from the restaurant where they worked in early March 2023.

Cowden said when the girl got into the back seat of his car, because the front seat was covered with trash, he got in with her and forced himself on her.

On Tuesday, the girl testified she was unable to unlock the vehicle, possibly because the lock was child-proof, and get out.

While in deliberations, the jury conveyed multiple questions to the judge. They involved the nature of the vehicle and its locks and whether the jury could view a recorded interview of the victim by staff at the Comfort House, a child advocacy center, that was referenced during the trial.

Cuomo advised the jury it could not consider any evidence that wasn’t presented during the trial.

After deliberating for more than two hours, the jury indicated it might not be able to reach a unanimous verdict on one of the two charges.

At that time, the judge asked the jurors to return to the courtroom.

There he advised them he can’t order them to reach a verdict but encouraged them to be open-minded and consider the opinions of fellow jurors.

“I don’t care what you do as long as you do the best that you can,” Cuomo said before sending them back to the jury room.

In his closing arguments to the jury earlier, Logue said the state presented no evidence that the defendant used physical force against the alleged victim or that he threatened or intimidated her.

“Never once did she say the word no,” said Logue.

He noted the alleged victim testified that she told Cochran, “You can’t do that. I’m a minor.”

But Logue questioned whether a teen would say that.

“In my mind, that sounds like an adult,” he said.

In her closing argument, Cowden acknowledged the girl initially denied anything happened when called into the principal’s office of her school to speak with police investigating the matter.

But she said the girl soon after told police that Cochran had sexually assaulted her.

Cowden referred to a videotaped police interview of Cochran who, when asked if his accuser had “made it up,” said, “There’s something going on, but I can’t say she’s making up anything because I don’t know.”

She questioned why Cochran didn’t deny the allegations under police questioning.

Through his cross-examination of the investigating officer, Logue suggested he could have sought evidence such as images from nearby surveillance cameras or interviews with others employed at the restaurant.

And in his closing arguments, Logue again asserted the officer had done a poor job of investigating the allegations.