Aaron Knodel was an English teacher at West Fargo High School, and he was a good one. I had Knodel for several classes during my time there, and I was coached by him on the school’s student congress team.

In 2014, he won the North Dakota Teacher of the Year award.

Shortly after this, allegations came out that he had had sexual relations with a 17-year-old student in 2009.

The case was announced, and almost immediately the evidence began to pile up. As the case moved into preliminary hearings, it seemed as if a guilty verdict was all but guaranteed.

And that’s when it all started to come apart.

It was discovered that the state hired a handwriting expert to verify letters and other small writings that Knodel had allegedly written to the student. This expert had obtained his certification online. And doubts began to rise.

And now it comes out that the jury had come to a unanimous not guilty decision on three of the five counts, and on the other two counts, there was one holdout juror for a guilty verdict.

She committed perjury, lying about her history as a victim of sexual assault.

And what was the state’s reaction to this discovery that a man’s life had been in the hands of some incompetent people?

The judge in the case, Steven McCullough, told the jury that this was “clearly grounds for a mistrial.”

Now it very well may be grounds for a mistrial, but to know this has been dragged out for as long as it has, and to know the jury was nearing an acquittal, this seems  the slightest bit unfair.

My own personal feelings aside, it is hard to watch a man, who by now appears innocent, have the possibility to sit through another trial, that could reach a different verdict. This is the equivalent of a bully saying that he only lost because he didn’t understand the rules, and so he needs to get another shot.

It is appalling to see a case like this, to see a man denied justice because the state decided that it wanted another shot.

And so, finally, despite the fact that I decided to try to remain silent and neutral throughout all of this case, it’s time to speak up.

The state needs to let this one go. Don’t put a man through any more suffering than you need to. Give him the justice he deserves, the justice the people deserve, not the justice you want.

Alex Bertsch is the opinion editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].