At this point, most people have heard about the Lindsey Clancy Trial. As you may have heard, it ended in a mistrial. So what exactly is a mistrial? Well what it boils down to is that mistrial is a trial that could not be completed for some reason. It is then essentially stopped and rescheduled.
A mistrial can happen for a few reasons. A common reason for a mistrial is that an attorney or witness brings something up in front of the jury that they are not allowed to discuss in front of them. Perhaps a witness brings up prior convictions or actions of the Defendant that they were already ordered not to discuss. Perhaps an attorney makes an argument that would unduly influence the jury. Sometimes a juror may discuss something that they saw about the case on the news or heard from someone else with the rest of the jury. When that happens, the rest of the jury may become tainted and consider evidence or information that was not introduced at the trial and could have an adverse impact on the Defendant or State. If a juror is alleged to have tainted the jury by providing additional information outside of the evidence from the trial, the Defense can move for a mistrial, and the Judge may even have to interview the jurors.
A Judge can also order a mistrial if the judge, an attorney, a key witness, or someone else essential to the case becomes unavailable- whether through sickness, death, or some other emergency. Sometimes these things happen, and there is little that can be done to avoid it. In this instance, a Judge may simply pause the current trial and resume at a later date; sometimes the Judge can order the mistrial.
A Judge can also order a mistrial when it is clear that the jury will not come to an agreement on the case and that no further deliberations will resolve resolve that issue. A jury must come to an unanimous decision in a criminal case. Even in a situation where eleven of the twelve jurors agree but one does not, this can cause a mistrial. If hours, days, or even weeks have passed without a consensus decision as to the guilt or innocence of the Defendant, the Judge may feel that no additional time will really make a difference and that a new trial will be ordered. This appears to be what happened in the Lindsey Clancy Trial.
When a Judge orders a mistrial, a new trial will be scheduled. Sometimes the State and the Defense can use that time to work out any potential issues for the next trial or work out an agreement to resolve the entire case. A mistrial can sometimes allow the State and Defendant to see exactly what evidence and arguments will be made by the other side, leading to a greater understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the other side’s case. Sometimes prosecutors will come back after a mistrial and know their case may be weaker than expected, or they may see that the Defense now knows their arguments, so they may present a more favorable plea to the Defense after a mistrial.
There is a situation where a Court would not order a new trial. If a prosecutor sees that a trial is going poorly, then deliberately acts in a manner to cause a mistrial so they can have a second chance at another trial, the Court will not allow a new trial to occur. If a prosecutor seeks to have your charges altered after a mistrial but before the new trial, that would not be allowed.
In Indiana, Defendants have a right to be tried within a certain time frame by the State. This is governed by Indiana Criminal Rule 4. Typically, the State has one year to bring a case to trial. This can be shortened if you request a speedy trial. If you have a trial that results in a mistrial, and then have a second trial scheduled, that time will not count against the State. Instead, a new timeline calculation will start since you technically were brought to trial before under that prior time constraints.
The best way to avoid a mistrial is to make sure that you have an attorney who understands trial procedure, who has experience litigating in trials, who has experience on both sides of the courtroom, and who is as prepared as possible to prevent any potential errors occurring. If you have an upcoming trial or a criminal case you would like to discuss further, please do not hesitate to reach us at 317-870-0019 to see if we can help.
