Hung jury how many times

Juries often report that they are hopelessly deadlocked, often after deliberating for only a short time. United States , which approved of the practice. In most jurisdictions in the United States, juries must be unanimous to reach a verdict.

In criminal cases, Oregon is the only state that allows non-unanimous jury verdicts , requiring only 10 of 12 jurors to reach a verdict. In Australia, for an accused to either be found guilty or not guilty of a crime in a jury trial, the starting point is that the jury decision must be unanimous.

However, after jury deliberations of about 8 hours or so, the judge will usually direct the jury that a majority verdict of will be received. After further deliberation by the jury, if the jury has not reached a majority verdict, the judge will question the foreperson on the jury as to whether, if more time was given, it is reasonably possible that jury will reach a majority verdict.

If the answer to that enquiry is no, then likely, the judge will discharge the jury on the basis they could not reach a verdict, unanimously or by majority.

Hung juries are not at all uncommon and it is nothing to worry about, perhaps unless you are the complainant or the accused and there is a retrial.

In an ideal world, a jury will reach a clear conclusion by either convicting or acquitting the defendant. Where a case retains the original 12 jurors at least 10 must agree on the verdict. If the numbers fall short, for example, with 8 wanting to acquit and 4 wanting to convict, that will not be an acceptable verdict. If the jury indicates that they will not be able to reach a verdict in accordance with the law then then that jury will need to be discharged.

The prosecution can apply to have the defendant tried again. This will be the outcome in most cases. The decision is one for the trial Judge who will consider whether or not it is in the interests of justice for a retrial to take place.

If prosecutorial misconduct is alleged then other factors will come into play, analogous with whether it is an abuse of process to allow a retrial. In most cases, the defence will not be able to properly resist the application. We would, however, always carefully consider all relevant factors and object if able to.