united-states jury trial prosecutorial-discretion
Is there a limit to the number of trials on a criminal charge permitted due to hung juries?
<p>In a jury trial for a criminal charge, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/590/18-5924/" rel="noreferrer">SCOTUS recently ruled that a guilty verdict must be unanimous</a>.</p>
<p>In (<a href="https://verdict.justia.com/2020/07/01/should-acquittals-require-unanimity" rel="noreferrer">almost</a>) every state a verdict to <em>acquit</em> a criminal defendant must also be unanimous.</p>
<p>If a jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict (a.k.a. a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hung_jury#United_States" rel="noreferrer">hung jury</a>) then the judge must declare a mistrial and the prosecutor can demand a new trial of the same defendant on the same charge.</p>
<p>Are there any legal constraints on the number of times that a defendant can be retried following mistrials due to hung juries?  Or is the only practical constraint the willingness of the prosecutor to expend government resources (and perhaps political capital) pursuing a conviction?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Are there any legal constraints on the number of times that a
defendant can be retried following mistrials due to hung juries?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No. A fairly recent case in Louisiana, for example, involved someone who had been tried perhaps half a dozen times resulting in a mix of hung juries and reversals of convictions on appeal.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Or is the only practical constraint the willingness of the prosecutor
to expend government resources (and perhaps political capital)
pursuing a conviction?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes. This is the only practical limitation.</p>
