If a jury cannot reach a verdict, a judge can discharge that jury. In this
case, Double Jeopardy Clause allows for the defendant to be re-tried.
The most recent pronouncement is from the United States Supreme Court in
Renico v. Lett, 130 S.C.t 1855 (2010). In Renico, the United States Supreme Court provided guidance for reviewing a decision
of a trial court to declare a mistrial based on a hung jury:
A State may try the same defendant twice if the jury is deadlocked. However,
if the trial judge’s basis for a mistrial ruling is unrelated to the
problem the trial is addressing, close appellate scrutiny is warranted.
The U.S. Supreme Court has also refused to apply a rigid formula for deciding
in what cases a deadlocked jury warrants a mistrial, because there are
too many case-by-case variables. If a trial judge is acting irrationally,
that would be an example of where declaration of a mistrial could not
be condoned. The Court also says that a trial judge is not required to
make clear findings of manifest necessity nor to ‘articulate on the
record all the factors which informed the deliberate exercise of his discretion.’
And the United States Supreme Court has never required a trial judge, before
declaring a mistrial based on jury deadlock, to force the jury to deliberate
for a minimum period of time, to question thejurors individually, to consult
with (or obtain the consent of) either the prosecutor or defense counsel,
to issue a supplemental jury instruction, or to consider any other means
of breaking the impasse.
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