When the Jury is Deadlocked, what does the Court do?

When juries report they are deadlocked, the Judge may deliver what’s known as a “dynamite charge”. This urges jurors to reexamine their views in an effort to reach a verdict.

If the jury doesn’t reach a verdict, then the case WILL end in a mistrial.

The Judge tells the deadlocked jurors that the case will likely be tried again before another jury at some future time who will likely hear the same evidence.

The Judge then tells them that the questions to be determined by any future jury will likely be the same questions confronting them and there is no reason to hope that another jury will find those questions any easier to decide.

With that instruction, it is usually enough to dynamite the logjam and get the jury to reach a verdict.

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