Your American History Reference Guide!
- Hung jury

HistoryMania Information Site on Hung jury American History American History Search        American History Browse welcome to our free resource site for all enthusiasts!

Hung jury

A hung jury is a jury whose required majority cannot reach or agree upon a unanimous verdict after an extended period of deliberation and are deadlocked with irreconcilable differences of opinion.

In the United States, the result is a mistrial and the case may be retried.

In jurisdictions giving the litigants a choice of jury size (as between a six-person and twelve-person jury), defense counsel in both civil and criminal cases frequently opt for the larger number of jurors, the saying being "it only takes one to hang", and a hung jury being regarded as the next best thing to a defense verdict.

The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the
GNU Free Documentation License. How to see transparent copy
Search | Browse | Contact | Legal info