Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 1, 2025
What happens when there is a hung jury?
Recent social media headlines have asked the question, how many times will a case be retried in the unusual circumstances that there is a mistrial?
The answer to that question can be a complicated one. In cases where there are close factual questions, or where information obtained during the course of a trial changes the perception of a case, a prosecutor’s office may or may not choose to retry a case after a mistrial.
In cases that remain as strong, or have become even stronger, the case can be retried any number of times.
The law is clear: a case that results in some jurors finding a person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt while other jurors believe there is a reasonable doubt can always be retried, and can be retried as many times as necessary to arrive at the unanimous verdict required by our state’s constitution.
A hung jury is not a victory for either side, nor is it a loss for either side.
At the end of April, three cases in Muskingum County resulted in mistrials.
At the conclusion of any trial resulting in a hung jury, our office reviews the case and evaluates whether the case should be re-tried. During this process we consider the strength and nature of the evidence, the impact the crime had on the victim, and does a re-trial promote justice being served. Our office has determined that the cases which recently resulted in hung juries will be re-tried. The crimes charged are ones that, in the interest of justice, cannot be ignored.
This decision is consistent with the foremost duty of the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office to apply the law equally to all persons, to pursue justice without fear or favor, and to protect the rights of crime victims.
Victims of crime enjoy rights co-equal with, and just as important as those enjoyed by the defendants.
Every defendant is presumed innocent, and enjoys the right to have the facts of their case litigated in front of a fair and impartial jury of their peers. They enjoy the right for that jury to hear the relevant facts, deliberate and deliver a unanimous verdict.
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