Criminal procedure

Mistrial

A mistrial is a trial ended by the judge before a verdict because something has made a fair result impossible.

The most common cause is a hung jury that cannot reach unanimity. Others include serious misconduct, inadmissible evidence the jury cannot unhear, or a juror emergency that leaves too few jurors.

A mistrial is not an acquittal. The government can usually retry the case, though a mistrial provoked by deliberate prosecutorial misconduct can bar retrial under the double jeopardy clause.

For anyone following a case, a mistrial resets the docket entirely. New trial dates, renewed motions in limine, and often new plea negotiations follow, because both sides have now seen how the evidence played to a jury. A defendant who moves for the mistrial usually forfeits any double jeopardy objection to being tried again, which is why the decision to ask for one is made carefully rather than reflexively.