What Is a Hung Jury? A Plain Guide

Most trials end with a verdict. A few end with a note passed from the jury room telling the judge that the jurors simply cannot agree. When that disagreement cannot be resolved, the result is what lawyers and reporters call a hung jury.

A hung jury, sometimes called a deadlocked jury, is a jury that is unable to reach the required level of agreement on a verdict after a genuine period of deliberation. It is not a finding of guilt or innocence. It is a finding that this particular group of jurors could not decide.

Why Unanimity Matters

In federal criminal trials, a verdict must be unanimous. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 31 requires that every juror agree before a defendant can be convicted or acquitted.

For many years, two states, Louisiana and Oregon, allowed convictions in serious criminal cases by a vote of 10 to 2 or 11 to 1. In Ramos v. Louisiana, decided in 2020, the US Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment requires a unanimous jury to convict a defendant of a serious offense in state court as well. Because one holdout juror can now prevent a conviction everywhere, the possibility of a deadlock is built into every serious criminal trial.

Civil Cases Are Different

Civil trials follow different rules. Federal civil verdicts must be unanimous unless the parties agree otherwise, but many states allow a civil verdict by a supermajority, such as 10 of 12 jurors. Deadlocks still happen in civil cases, though they tend to be less common where full agreement is not required.

What Happens When Jurors Report a Deadlock

Judges rarely accept the first report of a deadlock. Jurors are often told to keep deliberating, especially if they have been out for only a short time or the case involved long and complicated evidence.

The Allen Charge

If the jury remains stuck, the judge may give a supplemental instruction known as an Allen charge, named after the 1896 Supreme Court case Allen v. United States. It is sometimes called a dynamite charge because it is meant to break a logjam.

The instruction typically asks jurors to listen to one another with an open mind and to reconsider their views, while reminding them that nobody should give up an honest conviction just to reach a verdict. Courts watch these instructions closely, because an instruction that pressures holdouts too heavily can be grounds for appeal. Some states limit or reword the charge for that reason.

Declaring a Mistrial

When the judge concludes that further deliberation would be pointless, the judge declares a mistrial. The jury is discharged, and the case ends without a verdict. How long a judge waits before reaching that point is a matter of discretion, and it depends on the length of the trial, the complexity of the evidence and what the jurors report.

Partial Verdicts

A jury does not have to deadlock on everything. In a case with several counts or several defendants, jurors may agree on some questions and not others. Federal rules allow the jury to return a verdict on the counts where it has agreed, and the court can declare a mistrial only on the rest. A defendant may therefore be convicted on one count, acquitted on another and face a possible retrial on a third.

Can the Defendant Be Tried Again?

Often, yes. The Fifth Amendment protects people from being tried twice for the same offense, but the Supreme Court has long held that a mistrial caused by a genuinely deadlocked jury does not bar a second trial. The principle traces back to United States v. Perez in 1824, which recognized that a judge may discharge a jury when there is a manifest necessity to do so.

Whether a retrial actually happens is up to the prosecution. Prosecutors weigh how the jury split, the strength of the evidence, the cost of a new trial and the wishes of victims. Some cases are retried quickly. Others end in a plea agreement, and some are dismissed altogether.

What a Hung Jury Means for the People Involved

For defendants, a hung jury brings uncertainty rather than closure. They may remain on bail or in custody while prosecutors decide what to do. For victims and families, it can mean preparing to testify again. For jurors, it can be a frustrating end to weeks of service, even when each of them acted in good faith.

The Bottom Line

A hung jury is not a failure of the system. It is a sign that the requirement of agreement is doing its job, ensuring that no one is convicted unless every juror is persuaded. Anyone facing a retrial after a deadlock should talk with a qualified criminal defense attorney about what comes next. Court Magazine will keep explaining the legal terms that shape the headlines.