FORT HOOD (USA): A military judge on Wednesday declared a mistrial in the case of Lynndie England, a key figure in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal pictured holding a prisoner on a leash, after evidence at her trial undermined her guilty plea deal with prosecutors.

“This trial is going to stop today and pick up at some time in the future,” the judge, Col James Pohl, told the military court. “There can be no findings of guilty that can be declared at this point.”

Although the government could theoretically decide to drop the case, experts said a trial was likely in the future, with a new plea deal more difficult.

A grim-faced England, 22, shook her head when asked whether she wanted to comment on the mistrial. Her civilian attorney, Rick Hernandez, trying his first case in a military court, said only that he was disappointed at the collapse of the plea deal.

—Reuters