Defendant was charged with trafficking a child and other related offenses and midway through his trial the judge declared a mistrial, finding that defendant had failed to give pretrial notice of his first witness’ testimony. Defendant filed a collateral appeal while awaiting re-trial, arguing that a second trial could violate his constitutional right against double jeopardy. The Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded, finding that the trial court erred when it declared a mistrial because defendant did not fail to properly disclose a witness and that, even if there were an error that required corrected, the trial judge did not sufficiently consider reasonable alternatives or the effect of a mistrial on the defendant. (KOLAR and MALDONADO, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Mistrial