Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Trial

Well, it's not a ball game - not a game at all. There is a reason for requiring a unanimous which is beneficial to the defendant. I, for one, am grateful for a system of laws that requires that kind of burden on the government if they are accusing someone of a crime which, if found guilty, could result in a loss liberty and other lifetime consequences.

Practically speaking, that kind of a verdict normally causes the District Attorney to re-think the case before they decide to proceed. Sometimes they don't retry the case.

Good luck,

Re: Trial

If the D.A. wants to retry the case, sometimes you can get a better plea bargain. I once had a trial where there was a hung jury. We had to go back, but the D.A. let me client plead guilty to an infraction of disturbing the peace. Even though he didn't do anything wrong, it was better to plead guilty to an infraction than to incur the expense and risk of another trial.

Re: Trial

Verdicts in criminal cases must be unanimous. This is one of the ways our laws protect the rights of criminal defendants, who would be far more likely to be convicted on weak evidence if a mere majority vote were sufficient.