this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2024
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Can someone enlighten me on what would actually happen in a situation like that? He just walks?
In the US, the constitution bans double jeopardy. In other words, if you are aquitted, thats it. You're legally not a criminal of whatever it is you were accused of.
Jury nullification is the act of saying 1 thing but thinking the other, I phrase it that way because you can nullify either by handing out a guilty or not guilty verdict.
So in the event the jury finds someone not guilty, say of murdering a CEO for example, that person walks free.
Not a lawyer, but my understanding of looking into this a while back was that it results in a mistrial. So the state can bring charges again if they'd like. If the prosecution feels like jury nullification will continue to happen, then they may decline to continue pressing charges.
I think its only a mistrial if only one person is trying to nullify. If the whole jury says someone is not guilty, then you're done. Can't be tried again for the same crime.
Yeah that's true. A single hold out would be a mistrial and a likely retrial. If you can get all the jurors to vote not guilty, then it's just an acquittal and the trial is over without a possibility for a retrial.
That's not true. There isn't anything special about jury nullification. If it happens, it happens and that's the end of the trial. If the jury is hung because some of the jury members wish to nullify and others don't, then it will lead to a mistrial simply because the jury cannot come to a unanimous decision - not because of jury nullification. Of course, any verdict can be appealed as usual, but there's no guarantee the appeal will be granted - even in the case of jury nullification.
If you can convince the other jurors to also vote not guilty, the defendant walks. If you're the lone hold-out, eventually it's ruled a hung jury and thus mistrial, and they have to redo the whole trial with a new jury