Supreme Court Won’t Look at Manifest Necessity in Mistrials

A question concerning how much deference a federal appeals court should afford a district court’s decision that a defendant can be retried after a mistrial was denied review by the the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that Broderick Seay couldn’t be retried for murder after the government’s primary witness didn’t show up at his trial and a mistrial was declared. The record didn’t support the conclusion the state was surprised when the witness didn’t appear, the court said.

Double jeopardy attached as soon the jury was impaneled, and the government didn’t show ...