What Happens After a Mistrial Is Declared? Details Explained
Let's Break Down the Mystery of the Mistrial and What Happens When One Is Declared
After the mistrial there is the after-mistrial. So after the mistrial, there is typically some other trial. We attempted!
By Jennifer TisdaleApr. 24 2024, Published 2:30 p.m. ET
At one time in his existence, Phil Spector was once one of the necessary people in the tune trade. He produced song for improbable artists like The Beatles, John Lennon, The Ramones, and Cher. He was prolific and leading edge, however he was once convicted of homicide later in his existence. In February 2003, he shot and killed actor Lana Clarkson. His trial started 4 years later and in line with The New York Times, it led to a mistrial.
How did Spector move from a mistrial to an eventual conviction? The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office selected to retry the case, but that doesn't always happen. A mistrial can pass in a few directions. Let's get into what happens when a mistrial is declared and why that happens.
What happens after a mistrial is declared?
A mistrial occurs when a "criminal trial ends before it concludes," according to Lawyer.com. Once a judge announces a mistrial, the prosecution usually strikes to retry the case, similar to they did in the Spector trial. This decision isn't made frivolously because a retrial will also be a pricey process that attracts on moderately a little bit of resources.
In Spector's case, the jury was once deadlocked with a 7-Five split leaning towards a conviction. In a rare transfer, the judge gave the jury additional directions and despatched them again to deliberate. This ended in another impasse of 10-2. This resulted in Judge Fidler protecting "orders for silence, preventing lawyers and others in the case from speaking publicly." He then set a new listening to date. Not being able to succeed in a unanimous verdict is not the one explanation why a mistrial occurs.
Why are mistrials declared?
According to the American Bar Association, there are a collection of the reason why a mistrial can be declared past a deadlocked jury:
- dying of a juror or attorney
- an impropriety in the drawing of the jury discovered during the trial
- a fundamental error prejudicial (unfair) to the defendant that can not be cured by way of appropriate instructions to the jury (such because the inclusion of extremely flawed remarks in the prosecutor's summation)
- juror misconduct (for example, having contact with one of the parties, taking into consideration proof not presented within the trial, conducting an unbiased investigation of the matter)
As critical as this is, there are times when a little bit of comedy may also be squeezed out of a mistrial. In April 2011, The Washington Post picked up a tale about New York lawyer, Joseph Rakofsky. A D.C. Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in a 2008 murder case after Rakofsky "numerous signs that he lacked knowledge of proper trial procedure, including telling the jury during his opening statements that he had never tried a case before." The defendant was once able to fire him.
What to begin with tipped Judge William Jackson off used to be the truth that his opening observation went on for half-hour longer than same old. During that time, he made references to the "projects of Southeast D.C., where there was always gambling, guns. and drugs.” He was trying to establish that his client grew up in a dangerous environment but as the defense pointed out after objecting, this bore no relevance in the case.
The Washington City Paper reported that Rakofsky took to his Facebook page to excitedly tell the world that his first murder trial was a mistrial. He neglected to mention the fact that the mistrial was due to his own incompetence. He posted, “1st-Degree Murder…MISTRIAL!” which garnered seven likes from friends.
In June 2011, Rakofsky more or less sued the internet after claiming he was humiliated by the media attention, per The Atlantic. To be more specific, he sued The Washington Post as well as "80 other journalists, information retailers, and legal writers." It was later dismissed. Looks adore it was more of a leave out, than a trial.
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