Renico v. Lett

Holding

Under the Double Jeopardy Clause, a criminal defendant can be subjected to a new trial if the jury in his original trial was deadlocked and could not reach a unanimous verdict. In this case, a state court ordered a new trial after finding an initial jury deadlocked, and in the second trial, the defendant was convicted. A federal court overturned the conviction after concluding that the trial court did not try hard enough to get the first jury to reach a unanimous verdict. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the federal court did not give enough deference to the state trial court’s judgment about whether the first jury was truly deadlocked.

Judgment

Reversed and Remanded, 6-3, in an opinion by John Roberts on May 3, 2010. Justice Stevens dissented, joined by Justice Sotomayor and in part by Justice Breyer.

Recommended Citation: Renico v. Lett, SCOTUSblog, https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/renico-v-lett/