A mistrial is when a jury is unable to reach a unanimous decision or there is prosecutorial misconduct or error that results in an unfair trial. In class, there have been some cases that were declared as a mistrial and there were questions I had that went unanswered. Does having a mistrial provide an opportunity for justice? What happens in the event of a mistrial? Does the defendant go free in a mistrial? When searching for an answer, the first website below stated, "the defense and prosecution will have to live with the judge’s decision (as a mistrial), and the case will either be retried, settled, or dismissed." So, it all depends on the case if there is justice or not. For example, in the 3 1/2 Minutes and Ten Bullets Case, the jury could not reach an agreement on the charge of first-degree murder of Jordan Davis, so the judge declared it a mistrial. But they did have a second trial and Dunn was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Jordan Davis. If a case is addressed as a mistrial, then the defense or prosecution can appeal for a second trial if there is enough evidence. If there's an appeal the second website indicates, "a successful appeal usually restores a case to the initial stages, but can sometimes end the case altogether (such as when the appellate court finds that there’s insufficient evidence to retry the defendant).". It was also stated in the third source that, "in the event of a mistrial, the defendant is not convicted, but neither is the defendant acquitted. An acquittal results from a not guilty verdict and cannot be appealed by the prosecution, overturned by the judge, or retried. When there is a mistrial, however, the case may be retried.". So it's possible that the defendant can't go free in a mistrial if there is enough evidence for an appeal to retry and convicted for the crime if they are found guilty.
Sources
https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/criminal/criminal-law-basics/criminal-law-trials-motion-for-mistrial.html
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/appealing-conviction.html
https://fija.org/library-and-resources/library/jury-nullification-faq/what-happens-if-there-is-a-hung-jury.html
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I also thought it was really interesting that one of the charges against Michael Dunn was mistried because I had thought if you got one person to doubt whether or not you were guilty of criminal charges, you were considered not guilty. I hadn't realize that it actually meant your case has been mistried.
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