Deadlocked

So the case is over, all of the testimony has been given. The evidence has been submitted, closing arguments are over, and the case has gone to the jury. They may deliberate for an hour, a day, even a week, but at least you will have resolution right? As Lee Corso might say, "Not so fast!"

There is always the possibility of a deadlocked jury. This is fairly uncommon, but what does it really mean in a real-world sense? There is certainly no definitive result: no conviction, no acquittal. In civil trials it is not uncommon to have less than unanimity, but with criminal trials most jurisdictions require 12-0 either to acquit or convict. Of course, even that isn't true, and there is a significant line of cases that suggests that under the right circumstances, a less than unanimous verdict can still achieve either conviction or acquittal. I won't go into all of those details now.

What is interesting is what happens when there is a deadlocked jury. Some jurisdictions allow an "Allen" charge to try and break up the deadlock. This is an admonishment from the judge for the jury to really, really try and achieve a result. The idea is that the parties have presented their best case, there is no reason to believe that retrying this case will result in anything substantially different, and there is no reason to believe that a new jury wouldn't have the same issues as they (the jury) are having. "Punting" the issue of guilt or innocence to 12 new people is an abdication of their duty.

The case I have been working on just resulted in a mistrial. The jury voted 10-2 in favor of acquittal. While this was somewhat gratifying in the sense that most of the jurors voted our way, it wasn't a complete victory. Now, the defendant faces the possibility of a retrial. We may have to do this all over again. He still is not "free," and won't be until the State drops the charges entirely. In fact, he is not even free in the literal sense. The bond reduction hearing is today. So, a man who has been in jail for 2.5 years awaiting his day in court now waits another day, because 10-2 is NOT 12-0. As defense counsel said, "it was a dry run." Nothing more.

And that is a mistrial...