After mistrials in two counties last fall, a Vicksburg-based state trooper will go on trial again Monday in Oktibbeha County on charges that he sexually molested a youth in October 2007.

Dane Davenport, 46, 407 Warren St., faces one count of fondling or touching a child younger than 16. He faces multiple counts in Warren County, and a trial on those charges is set for May.

Jury selection in Starkville is set to begin at 9 a.m.

Davenport’s first trial there in October ended in a mistrial after only a few minutes of testimony. His accuser, now 15, offered testimony that presiding Judge James T. Kitchens of the 16th Circuity Court had ruled in pretrial motions would be inadmissible.

Kitchens said the testimony was in response to “invited error” and “not well-crafted” questions on the part of lead defense attorney John Zelbst of Lawton, Okla.

Members of the victim’s family said after that Zelbst had purposely elicited the testimony in order to get the case thrown out and “delay justice.”

Zelbst said the blame belonged to the witness for “repeated violations” of the judge’s instructions.

The first Oktibbeha trial came weeks after a mistrial was declared in Warren County after five days of testimony. In Warren County, Davenport faced multiple charges of sexual molestation and battery and jurors deliberated for about four hours before filing back into the courtroom once to ask for further directions and finally to report they were hopelessly deadlocked.

The Warren County case will be retried May 11.

Both the Warren and Oktibbeha county cases are being prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Office because Davenport is a state employee and was charged in multiple counties.

Kitchens, whose district includes Oktibbeha, Clay, Noxubee and Lowndes counties, convened defense and prosecution lawyers on Jan. 23 for additional pretrial motions.

At the hearing in West Point in Clay County, he heard motions from Zelbst and state prosecutors Brandon Ogburn and Jean Vaughn regarding admissibility of evidence, including whether testimony related to the Warren County case can be offered in Starkville.

Prosecutors are prevented from discussing current cases, and the Attorney General’s Office offered no comment other than to confirm the trial date and that both attorneys were present. Zelbst said in a telephone interview that admissibility issues were heard and resolved.

Davenport is a 20-plus-year veteran of the Mississippi Highway Patrol. In addition to patrol duties, he managed the driver’s licensing bureau on Grove Street in Vicksburg. He was indicted by a Warren County grand jury on four counts of sexual battery of a child younger than 16 and five counts of fondling a child younger than 14. A day later, he was indicted by an Oktibbeha County grand jury on the fondling charge.

The Warren County charges are based on incidents dating to October 1999 and involve the same boy and his older brother.

Under state law, the boys are not identified. Family members are also not named in public reports since naming them would identify the children.

Davenport has been on unpaid administrative leave since his indictments.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com