A Pennington County judge has declared a mistrial in a Rapid City murder case after discovering prosecutors failed to inform the defense in a timely manner that immunity had been granted to several key witnesses.
Judge Matthew Brown has not ruled on whether the mistrial is with prejudice, which would prevent prosecutors from refiling charges against 31-year old Barry Allman of Box Elder.
Allman is charged with 2nd-degree murder in the August 2020 stabbing death of 33-year-old Lance Baumgarten in a Rapid City apartment.
The mistrial was declared after it came out Tuesday during testimony in the trial that the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office failed to inform the defense team that it had granted immunity to four witnesses.
The witness testified there were 6 people in the apartment at the time Baumgarten was stabbed and that while he himself didn’t see it, he did see Allman holding a bloody knife.
He also said Allman wanted to hide the body in the Badlands and threatened those present at gunpoint if they didn’t help him.
Allman’s attorney then asked the witness if the prosecution had provided “benefits” to him on outstanding warrants in return for his testimony. When he replied yes, it triggered Judge Brown’s mistrial ruling.
When Allman was arrested, he was already a suspect in an earlier homicide and had an outstanding federal warrant.