Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court heard Renico v Lett out of Michigan. The issue is whether double jeopardy protections apply when the trial judge declares a mistrial based on mixed signals from the jury that the judge decides indicate they are unable to reach a unanimous verdict. As the Court pressed counsel over how to decide if a judge's determination of deadlock is reasonable, Justice Breyer mused:
I guess if the judge had said, "Hey, we have only been deliberating half an hour and the game starts in five minutes, I've got to get there -- dismissed," that would be unreasonable.
Reluctantly, SBM Blog must agree.
