The case against a Congolese refugee accused of raping his young relative ended in mistrial after a Merrimack County jury was unable to deliver a unanimous verdict. Eleven of 12 members of the jury believed Jean Pierre Kihuna was guilty of rape, jurors said yesterday, but ultimately that was not enough to convict him.

Two jurors told a reporter after the trial that the verdict was an 11-1 split. One of the jurors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case, said she was disappointed by the outcome.

"We had worked hard at trying to arrive at a fair verdict, and it's sad that we were not able to all come to agreement," she said. "I think that we covered all the evidence that was made available to us and we spent as much time as we felt we possibly could."

The juror declined to discuss what went on during the daylong deliberation process, nor would she detail what evidence in the case helped sway her decision, citing concerns over jeopardizing a future trial.

"I think we all feel very dedicated to making any retrial as fair as possible," she said. "I don't want to say anything that might give an advantage to the defense."

The all-white jury was made up of five men and seven women. Other jurors reached by telephone yesterday afternoon declined to comment.

Kihuna, 35, of Concord, was arrested in August 2008 after his ex-wife's younger sister told the police he had repeatedly raped her between September 2005 and May 2007. The girl was 10 and 11 at the time of the alleged assaults. Kihuna was charged with two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault - each punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.

The girl, her older sister and her older brother met Kihuna in a Mozambique refugee camp after fleeing civil war in Congo. After Kihuna and the girl's sister married, the four moved to Concord in 2005, first living at a Fisherville Road apartment and then on Downing Street.

The girl, now 14, lives with her sister in Indiana, along with the couple's three children.

It was unclear yesterday whether prosecutors will bring another case against Kihuna. Assistant Merrimack County Attorney David Rotman said yesterday that his office would consider a retrial. Both sides will have an opportunity to speak to jurors after 30 days have passed. Rotman said his office would like to speak with jurors, witnesses and family members involved in the case, review the strengths and weaknesses of the original trial, and then make an appropriate decision.

Paul Maggiotto, Kihuna's attorney, said he was disappointed about the hung jury and maintained that his client is not guilty. He argued during trial that the girl made up the assaults at a time when her sister and Kihuna were having marital troubles.

Because there were no witnesses to the alleged incidents, attorneys relied heavily on direct testimony and called into question the credibility of witnesses who took the stand - namely the girl and Kihuna.

Last week, the girl testified that Kihuna forced her to have sex with him on the toilet or tub of the family bathroom, usually on Mondays. When pressed for more specific details, the girl could not recall much of what she had told the police and became frustrated under cross-examination. She eventually told the jury she had no memories of the alleged rapes.

Maggiotto argued that the girl's sister reported the alleged assaults on the same day Kihuna asked her to return a key to his apartment. Kihuna testified through a French translator that he and his wife were in the process of separating when the court ordered his ex-wife to move out of the house. She continued to stop by and take items, he said, and was angry and violent when Kihuna asked for the key. The girl was present when they fought, he said.

"This family made my life impossible in the United States," he told jurors Monday. "Nothing would stop (the girl) from creating the whole story just to help her sister."

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