JUDGE DROPS CASE AGAINST FUND-RAISER : JURY DEADLOCKS ON CHARGES GROUP LEADER INITIATED SEX.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

Charges against Burbank school fund-raiser Salle Dumm, 51, were dropped Wednesday after a jury deadlocked over whether she had initiated sex with a 17-year-old football player.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Stoever rejected the prosecution's request for a new trial and ordered the charges dropped.

The jury deadlocked 7-5 on one felony count of lewd conduct with a minor and 6-6 on a misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Dumm, who was attending a get-together with friends and family in Burbank late Wednesday, said she was pleased the charges were dropped, but had hoped the jury would acquit her.

While nervous about taking the stand in her defense, Dumm said she relished the chance to tell her side of the story. ``It was somewhat of a relief to tell what's really happened,'' she said.

She said she hasn't been able to sleep at night since her November arrest. ``There were days when it was extremely difficult to get up, get dressed and go to work,'' Dumm said.

Dumm thanked the Burbank Educational Foundation for keeping her as president during the controversy. She termed as ridiculous allegations that she offered to give the football team funding in exchange for sex.

The fund-raising group provides money for such things as band instruments, computers and field trips, and has never made a donation to a sports program, she said.

Pat Myers, a member of the jury, said the seven jurors felt the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dumm initiated sex with the teen-ager. The other five believed she was responsible, she said.

``Part of the jury felt she could have stopped it,'' Myers said. ``Others thought she was too inebriated.''

Myers said both the testimony by Dumm and the teen-ager left many questions about the incident unanswered.

A lawyer for the family could not be reached Wednesday.

Dumm was arrested in November, four months after she allegedly became drunk and had sex with the teen-ager in her Burbank home.

The teen-ager, now 18, testified during the trial in Pasadena that Dumm served him three or four vodka drinks before summoning him to her bedroom with a note.

He testified that Dumm then coerced him into having sex, telling him to ``do it for your team,'' and suggesting that she could use her influence to get more money for Burbank High's football program.

At the trial, Dumm testified that the teen-ager initiated sex, and that she was too drunk to protest.

``I did not instigate sex with him,'' Dumm testified. ``I did not have sex with him. He had sex with me. There's a big difference in my mind.''

Prosecutor David Vaughn said the outcome was unjust, in that it played to stereotypes that teen-age boys are always after sex with women.

``The minor was a 17-year-old. He's 6-foot-2, 300 pounds. He appeared to be a man. But he's a child,'' Vaughn said.

The teen-ager went to Dumm's home on July 14 with his tutor. Shortly after the incident, the boy told his tutor and his football coaches, but it wasn't reported to police until November.

Joe Hooven, president of the Burbank school board, resigned earlier this year after a football coach said Hooven had urged him to keep the incident quiet.

The football player and his parents have sued Dumm, Hooven, the Burbank Unified School District and others for damages.

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