Criminal trials can have a wide variety of issues that must be decided by the jury. Some trials may have only one accused individual, or defendant, who's charged with a single crime. Other trials may have multiple defendants who're charged with multiple crimes. The more defendants and charged crimes there are in a criminal trial, the more issues that must be decided by the jury.

The jury's decisions as to guilt for each charged crime and for each defendant is contained in the verdict. States vary as to how many jurors are needed to agree on each decision in the verdict. In a federal criminal case, the verdict must be made by a unanimous vote. Since there may be multiple decisions as to charged crimes and defendants, the jury may agree on some of these decisions and disagree on others.

If a jury agrees on certain defendants or crimes, courts will allow the return of a partial verdict. A partial verdict is a verdict that contains the jury's decisions as to one or more, but not all, of the charged crimes and defendants. There's a greater chance for a partial verdict the more charged crimes and defendants there are in a criminal trial.

Multiple Defendants

If there are multiple defendants, the jury may return a verdict as to any defendant about whom it has agreed. This verdict can be returned at anytime during the jury's deliberations. The jury can decide to deliberate as to each defendant separately. As the jurors reach their verdict as to one defendant, the verdict can be returned to the court. The jury can then deliberate as to the other defendants.

Juries should be neither encouraged nor discouraged to return partial verdicts. The court may not tell the jury that it can't return a partial verdict or refuse the jury's request to return a partial verdict. Also, the court may not direct the jury to return any partial verdicts that had been reached at that point. It's in the discretion of the jury to decide when, if at all, to report a partial verdict.

Multiple Charged Crimes

If the jury cannot agree on all the charged crimes, it may return a verdict on those crimes on which it has agreed. The jury can return a partial verdict as to one or more of the charged crimes anytime during deliberations. The jurors can then deliberate on the other charged crimes.

Just like a partial verdict for one defendant, the court can't direct the jury to return a partial verdict as to the charged crimes. The jury has full discretion to decide whether to return a partial verdict.

Mistrials and Retrials

After a jury returns a partial verdict, it continues to deliberate on the other crimes and defendants. Sometimes the jury will eventually agree on all the issues and return a verdict that covers all the crimes and defendants not covered by the partial verdict. Other times a jury will never come to an agreement on the other issues.

If the jury fails to agree on certain crimes or defendants, the court has the authority to declare a mistrial on those issues. A mistrial is an inconclusive trial that ends without a verdict on the issues not agreed upon by the jury. The decisions on which the jury did agree upon in the verdict are valid and remain in effect.

The federal or state government may retry any defendant on any crime on which the jury couldn't agree. It's at the discretion of the government whether to pursue these crimes or whether to just settle for the partial verdict already returned by the jury.

Questions for Your Attorney

  • If I am charged with five serious crimes, can I be found guilty of four of them and retried for the last one? What about if the jury can't agree on any of the crimes?
  • Can a jury find a co-defendant guilty by partial verdict before it looks at the evidence against the other defendant? What about the crime of conspiracy?
  • Can I appeal a partial verdict if it convicts me of a crime or do I have to wait until the jury finishes deciding all the charged crimes? How much time does the jury have to deliberate?