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A Grosse Pointe attorney accused of embezzling millions from Carhartt heiress Gretchen Valade was acquitted Friday afternoon of two charges, though the jury could not reach a decision on two others.

David Sutherland, who was charged with two counts of embezzling $100,000 or more, was found not guilty of one of the counts and the jury deadlocked on the other. The jury also hung on a count of defrauding a vulnerable adult of $100,000 or more, but found him not guilty of a count of conducting a criminal enterprise. Wayne Circuit Judge Judge Paul Cusick said Friday declared a mistrial for the two hung counts, meaning prosecutors can choose to try those charges again.

Sutherland's acquittal comes after a full week of deliberations. Around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, the jurors sent a note to the judge asking if they were allowed to make a separate decision for each of the counts. The jurors indicated Monday and Tuesday they were stuck on the charges, and Cusick urged them both times to keep trying to reach a decision.

“Acquittals are good,” Sutherland’s attorney, Jim Sullivan, told reporters after the verdict. He said that it’s up to the prosecution on how they want to proceed with the two deadlocked counts.

Sullivan said the jury was “very dedicated to their work.”

“It really was evidenced by the five days’ deliberation,” he said.

Prosecutors in the Michigan Attorney General's Office accused Sutherland, 59, of taking millions from a 2009 life insurance trust of which he served as the fiduciary, and using the money to fund business investments and real estate ventures that are now worth millions less.

"We appreciate the jury’s service and are currently assessing next steps in consultation with the victims and the Court," said Danny Wimmer, a spokesperson for Attorney General Dana Nessel, in an email to The Detroit News.

In the case, Sullivan argued Sutherland had authority to make loans from the trust as its trustee, and Valade supported investments intended to benefit the community rather than prioritize profits.

Cusick on Friday thanked the jury for their time and patience.

Prosecutors accused Valade of exploiting Valade but Sutherland's attorney argued a crime wasn't committed.

"It's a terrible thing to be accused of a crime you didn't commit. It's even worse to be accused of a crime that never occurred. That's what happened here," Sullivan told the jury.

Jurors also heard testimony about Valade's physical health and how it took a turn for the worse around 2016. She suffered increasingly frequent falls, and she eventually had move her bedroom to the ground floor of her house and was bound to a wheelchair in the last years of her life.

Valade died in December 2022 at 97. Witnesses described her as generous and someone who invested heavily in community ventures, especially those related to her love for jazz. She endowed the Detroit Jazz Festival, owned the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe and founded Mack Avenue Records, a record label with several artists who have won or been nominated for Grammy awards.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for June 18 to determine how to proceed on the two hung counts. The hearing also will address a second criminal case Sutherland faces, for accusations he embezzled $1.4 million from the William Cardinal Foundation. The foundation benefits St. Paul on the Lake Catholic School in Grosse Pointe Farms.