YNW Melly‘s double murder trial has taken yet another interesting turn as it’s now been announced that it’s ended in a mistrial.
The mistrial was declared as of 2:12 p.m. ET on Saturday (June 22), and Law & Crime was on the scene to announce Judge John Murphy’s shocking decision.
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According to the outlet, the jury deliberated until 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday (June 21) before breaking for the evening. They resumed deliberations on Saturday (June 22) at 8:52 a.m. ET.
Despite this constant deliberation, however, the jury could not reach a majority verdict.
A deadlocked jury is one that cannot reach a verdict by the required voting margin — in this case, with eight or more jurors agreeing on the judgment — despite their best efforts.
According to the Cornell University School of Law, judges will make every effort to avoid a deadlocked jury, often going so far as to demand what’s known as a “dynamite charge” to force the jury to come to a verdict. There is no limit to how long a jury can deliberate for in any state of the union, but a mistrial will be declared at some point if all efforts to reach a decision are in vain.
It is important to note, however, that YNW Melly may be retried now that the mistrial has occurred.
According to the Fully Informed Jury Association, the defendant (in this case, YNW Melly) is neither acquitted nor convicted. Rather, in the eyes of the law, the trial “never happened.” Therefore, Fifth Amendment protections — which include the double jeopardy clause that prevents defendants from being retried for the same crime — do not apply.
“If a mistrial occurs due to a hung jury, the prosecutor may decide to retry the case. A judge may decide to disallow this in some cases, but the prosecutor is usually allowed to proceed,” reports the Fully Informed Jury Association.
While YNW Melly may go free as a result of this mistrial, it is not clear whether his attorney has made this type of a motion to the court, as of yet.
