If a felony trial results in a mistrial by juries twice, an automatic appeal by prosecution should occur to be dealt with by a bench of at least three judges who are not elected and in a court not in the jurisdiction where the alleged felonies occurred. A mistrial serves neither the alleged perpetrator nor the alleged victim since a cloud always remains over the former and a lack of closure for the latter.
Why is this important?
The recent trial in Baltimore in the Freddie Gray case, the one related to Sureshbhai Patel in Alabama, and several others have shown that a hung jury inevitably occurs when race issues are involved. The racial divide of juries may be an issue, in addition to the inherent limitations related to juries being easily played on their emotions, not understanding intricacies of the law, and feeling a sense of intimidation. Justice to victims is being thwarted by repeated hung trials.
