Members of Ohio University's Coalition Educating about Sexual Endangerment have obtained more than 400 signatures on a petition to retry former OU student Ben Mallory for sexual battery charges.

Mallory was found neither guilty nor not guilty when the jury returned no verdict Oct. 13 after six days of testimony and 11 hours of deliberation.

Whether or not to retry the case is in the hands of Athens County Assistant Prosecutors Colleen Flanagan and Michael Prisley, who will receive the petition tomorrow morning and throughout the week as more signatures are obtained.

"What we're hoping is that the prosecutor's office realizes that this is an important issue on our campus," CEASE Vice President Jennifer Berthelot said. "We want to see something done, whether it's guilty or not guilty."

Berthelot, CEASE President Mary Nally and member Claudia Kirkland compiled the petition, which summarized the evidence presented during the trial and stated justice will not be served until a verdict is rendered.

So far the petition's efforts have been directed mainly at the greek community.

"Both of the parties in this case were members of the greek system. This could have been about one of your brothers or one of your sisters," according to the petition's cover letter.

The three girls also are involving other CEASE members and petitioning classes and other organizations, such as Swarm of Dykes and Promoting Ohio University Wellness, Education and Responsibility.

"We're not going to stop until we get a response," Nally said.

Although Athens County Prosecutor Bill Biddlestone has not yet received the petition, he is doubtful about how influential it will be.

"It's pretty hard to weigh what kind of an impact (the petition) would have," he said.

In order to decide if they will retry the case, the prosecution is talking to jurors about the evidence presented during the trial and taking into consideration potential costs and the wishes of the victim.

"We're more interested in whether or not we can win the case the second time through," Biddlestone said. "We have various obligations to the community. We try to weigh all the factors together, including the time and cost."

Although retrying the case would require large amounts of the taxpayers' money, the petition shows it is money many are willing to spend, Berthelot said.

"I think it would be really sad to use money as an excuse not to try a case that the community feels is a big issue," Berthelot said.

Some students who agreed with the importance of the issue were enthusiastic about signing the petition.

"I feel that he is not getting the right punishment that he deserves," said junior Kristine Bjornstad.

Although sorority members contributed the most signatures, they were not the only ones willing to sign.

"I think it should be taken to trial again," said sophomore Graham Blackwell, who did sign the petition.

Other students were unwilling to sign the petition under the circumstances in which the petition was presented.

"The 12 members of the jury heard the case, and didn't find enough evidence. How am I supposed to make the decision?" said senior Bob Richards.

But many undecided greek organizations invited CEASE members to future chapter meetings to discuss the Mallory trial and related sexual assault issues.

"I'm excited about this petition," Nally said. "I don't know what impact it will have, but at least people are talking about the issues, and I think that's really good."

-Michelle Everhart and Jenny Applegate contributed to this article.