ATLANTA – After a Georgia judge scrapped an ongoing murder trial when it interfered with jurors’ Christmas plans, the suspect says he can’t be retried because it would violate his constitutional rights.
A lawyer for Verlaine Laguerre argued before the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday that a judge improperly declared a mistrial and a new trial would amount to constitutionally barred double jeopardy, which is when a person is tried twice for the same crime.
“The difficulties of jury service should not override a defendant’s right against double jeopardy,” said Dana Norman, an attorney for Laguerre.
The law says that once a jury is selected and sworn in, a person has the right to be tried and found guilty or not guilty by that jury. If a judge declares a mistrial over a defendant’s objection, there can be no new trial unless the mistrial was deemed a “manifest necessity.”
Laguerre and another man, Prentice Baker, were indicted in 2012 in Fulton County on charges including malice murder and felony murder.