What Does Mistrial Mean? Causes of a Mistrial and What Happens to Your Case
A mistrial occurs when some error in the trial process makes justice impossible if the proceedings continue.
Most people have heard the word, but few know what a mistrial means for the person on trial. If your trial ended in a mistrial, you want to know whether the case is over and whether you will be tried again.
What Is a Mistrial?
A mistrial ends a trial before the jury (or the judge, in a bench trial) reaches a verdict. The judge stops the trial and discharges the jury because something has gone wrong that no warning or ruling can fix. There is no conviction and no acquittal.
The charges do not go away. After a mistrial, the case returns to roughly where it stood before trial. The prosecution can usually try the case again, offer a plea agreement, or withdraw the charges, and your bail conditions ordinarily stay in place while that decision is made.
Mistrials are rare. Under Pennsylvania law, a mistrial is generally permitted only when it is necessary to avoid some fundamental unfairness that no lesser remedy can cure. The rule that governs mistrials in Pennsylvania is Rule 605 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. A mistrial can happen at nearly any point in the Pennsylvania criminal trial process.
What Causes a Mistrial?
Most mistrials fall into a handful of categories.
- Hung jury. This is the most common cause. Pennsylvania requires a unanimous verdict in a criminal jury trial, so if the jurors deliberate in good faith and still cannot agree, the judge declares a hung jury and a mistrial.
- Juror misconduct. A juror who researches the case online, talks about it with someone outside the jury room, or turns out to have hidden a bias during jury selection can taint the whole panel.
- Inadmissible evidence reaching the jury. A witness may blurt out a prior arrest, or a lawyer may refer to evidence the judge already excluded. If an instruction to disregard the statement cannot undo the damage, a mistrial may be the only fair option.
- Illness or death of a key participant. If the judge, the defendant, a lawyer, or an essential witness becomes seriously ill or dies mid-trial and the case cannot reasonably be paused, the judge may have to start over.
- Prosecutorial misconduct. Improper remarks in a closing argument, references to excluded evidence, or late disclosure of evidence the defense was entitled to can all unfairly prejudice the jury.
Before declaring a mistrial, a judge will usually look for a smaller fix, such as instructing the jury to disregard a statement or seating an alternate juror in place of one who cannot continue.
Who Can Declare a Mistrial?
Only the trial judge can declare a mistrial. In Allegheny County, that is the Court of Common Pleas judge presiding over the trial.
Under Pennsylvania’s rule, when something prejudicial happens during trial, the defendant has the right to move for a mistrial, and the motion must be made as soon as the problem comes up. Waiting can waive the issue. Your lawyer has to make a fast judgment call about whether a mistrial actually helps you or simply hands the prosecution a second chance.
The judge can also declare a mistrial without a request from either side, but only for what the law calls manifest necessity. A hung jury is the classic example. Who asked for the mistrial, and why, matters later, because it affects whether you can be tried again.
What Happens After a Mistrial? Can You Be Retried?
In most cases, yes. A mistrial is not a verdict, so double jeopardy, the constitutional rule against trying a person twice for the same offense, usually does not apply. After a hung jury or a mistrial declared out of manifest necessity, the prosecution is normally free to schedule a new trial.
Double jeopardy bars a retrial only in limited situations. The clearest example is when the prosecution intentionally provoked the mistrial, for instance by goading the defense into asking for one. Pennsylvania courts have also applied the state constitution’s double jeopardy protection to some cases of serious prosecutorial misconduct. These arguments turn on exactly what happened in the courtroom and why, so a lawyer needs to review the record.
Where the record supports it, your attorney can move to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds before a second trial. If the judge denies that motion, the ruling can sometimes be appealed before the retrial, and our Pittsburgh criminal appeals lawyers handle those challenges.
Even when a retrial is legally allowed, it is not automatic. Before a retrial, the prosecution has to weigh the merits of trying the case again. A second trial costs the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office time and staff. Some cases are withdrawn or resolved through a plea agreement. Many others are retried, often with the prosecution having repaired the weaknesses the first trial exposed.
The one certain effect of a mistrial is delay. You remain under whatever bail conditions the court set while a retrial is scheduled. We use that time to study the transcript, because the prosecution has now shown its hand and its witnesses have testified under oath.
Mistrial vs. Dismissal vs. Acquittal
The three terms are often confused.
- Mistrial. The trial ended before a verdict. The charges are still pending, and a retrial is usually allowed.
- Dismissal. The court ends the case, or the prosecution withdraws it, without a verdict. Some dismissals leave the prosecution free to refile the charges, for example after a preliminary hearing, while a dismissal with prejudice ends the matter for good.
- Acquittal. The jury or judge found you not guilty. An acquittal is final, and double jeopardy prevents the Commonwealth from trying you again on that charge.
A mistrial does not dismiss anything and it does not acquit anyone. It resets the case.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mistrials
Is a mistrial good for the defendant?
Sometimes. A mistrial is not an acquittal, and it gives the prosecution a chance to fix the problems that showed up in the first trial. It can work in your favor when it exposes weaknesses in the Commonwealth’s case or persuades prosecutors to offer a better deal.
How many times can a case end in a mistrial?
Pennsylvania law sets no fixed limit. Each time a jury hangs, the prosecution can generally try the case again. In practice, prosecutors rarely retry a case more than once or twice, and after repeated mistrials a defense lawyer can argue that yet another trial would be unfair.
Does a mistrial mean the charges are dropped?
No. The charges remain pending, and the prosecution decides whether to retry the case or resolve it another way. The charges end only if they are withdrawn or dismissed, or if you are acquitted at a new trial.
Can you be retried after a mistrial in Pennsylvania?
Usually, yes. Retrial is normally allowed after a hung jury or a mistrial declared out of manifest necessity. Double jeopardy blocks a second trial only in limited situations, such as when the prosecution intentionally provoked the mistrial, and a lawyer needs to review the trial record to know whether that applies to you.
Talk to a Pittsburgh Criminal Defense Lawyer About Your Case
If your trial ended in a mistrial, the next few weeks matter. The prosecution is deciding whether to retry you, and your defense should be pressing any double jeopardy argument the record supports.
Worgul, Sarna & Ness, Criminal Defense Attorneys, LLC defends clients at trial in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and the surrounding counties. To talk with a Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney about where your case stands, call (412) 281-2146 or send us a message to request a free consultation. We will review what happened at your first trial and tell you what to expect next.
Written & Reviewed By
Michael Worgul, Esq.
Pittsburgh Criminal Defense Attorney
Worgul, Sarna & Ness, Criminal Defense Attorneys, LLC
Pennsylvania Bar · Admitted 2004 · U.S. District Court, Western District of PA
Michael Worgul has practiced criminal defense in Pittsburgh for over 20 years, handling cases across the full criminal spectrum, from misdemeanor traffic charges to federal racketeering. After graduating from Duquesne University School of Law (J.D., 2004), he spent two years representing indigent defendants at the Allegheny County Office of Conflict Counsel before founding his firm in 2008. He has completed 30+ jury trials, compared to a career average of 7 for most attorneys.
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Content reviewed for legal accuracy. This is not legal advice.