What does a jury hang on a DUI case mean?

You may hear the term stuck jury or hung jury in today’s media culture. But what does it really mean in a DUI case? Simply put, in your standard DUI jury trial there are 6 jurors. To reach a decision, the verdict must be unanimous. That is, to find the defendant guilty or not guilty, all members of the jury panel must agree.

However, there are times when this will not happen. And some of the jurors will make different decisions regarding the facts, witnesses, and legal issues in a DUI case. When that happens, the jury is stuck or hung between the panel. Generally, when that happens, a couple of things will happen.

First, a judge will always ask the jury to come back and try to make a decision. Usually that conversation goes like this. The judge will ask what the robbery is. The judge will then ask if the jurors think they can make a decision. The judges are not stupid. They know that if the jury cannot reach a decision, that means additional work and additional legal problems that will be resolved later. If the jury thinks they can reach a verdict, the judge will usually tell the jury to go back and try to resolve any issues that may exist.

Second, if the jury says you can’t reach a unanimous decision and you’re at a standstill. So that means the case will end in a mistrial. Which means that no decision can be made and the whole case would start over. There is no penalty for the jury or anything. They are at large and are free to speak about the case. However, since the whole case would have to start over, this is not good for either party, but especially for the Prosecutor’s Office.

In my experience with DUI cases that end in a mistrial, depending on the facts of the case and the defendant’s criminal record, the case may not be retried. Prosecutors will generally look at the facts and history when making that decision. If the defendant has never been in trouble before, and the facts of the case are not egregious, then they can choose not to try again, which would result in the charges being dismissed, or they can offer a plea agreement that was not made. prior to. Usually the latter is what happens, but sometimes the charges are simply dismissed entirely.